By Marcus Isaac D.G. Bandong

Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws strengthened their spot at the top after a close-out victory over the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Spikers, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, in the second round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 men’s volleyball tournament earlier today, April 8, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

The first set was a minor setback on FEU's side as DLSU mounted a three-point cushion after they capitalized on their early errors, 14-17.

Fortunately, the green-and-gold squad improved their offense courtesy of Mikko Espartero's powerful spikes and costly errors made by the Green Spikers, 25-21.

However, the tides changed in the second set as the Morayta-based squad were bombarded by DLSU’s blitz on offense, 10-18.

Despite an eight-point deficit, the Tamaraws impressively trimmed the Green Spikers’ lead to three off the hot hands of Amet Bituin and Luis Miguel's offensive spurt, 19-22.

Unfortunately, the green-and-gold squad could not continue their scoring prowess after an unsuccessful overreaching challenge, 21-25.

After losing a tight second set, the Morayta-based squad mounted a two-point cushion in the third frame after a personal five-point run from Espartero that gave them back the lead, 15-13.

To maintain their hold, FEU continued to dismantle DLSU's floor defense courtesy of powerful spikes from a streaking Miguel, 25-22.

The same story followed both squads in the last frame as the green-and-gold and green-and-white were once again in a gritty deadlock at 18-18.

FEU's on-court adjustments gave them the much-needed space for Charles Absin's block to close out the match, 25-21.

To lead the Tamaraws, Vennie Ceballos’ floor defense reverberated throughout the taraflex as he finished with 10 excellent digs and 18 receptions, while Espartero had 14 points built on 13 spikes and one service ace.

In the post-game press conference, Absin shared that improving every day is part of their ultimate goal.

“Siguro every game may lesson naman. ‘Yung nangyari today is pagtatrabahuhan pa namin sa upcoming practices or training. And then alam naman natin na ‘pag nag-set tayo ng goal, ‘di naman diretso papunta sa task (Every game, there’s a lesson. What happened today, we are going to continuously work on our upcoming practices until we achieve our final goal),” he said.

Notwithstanding their early mistakes, FEU lead tactician Eddison Orcullo commended the team for mending their mishaps right away.

“‘Yung nangyayari kasi, uncontrollable naman talaga ‘yung error, unforced error, pero good thing din talaga [na] nakaka-recover kahit papaano (What happened was, every error was uncontrollable. Thankfully, it's a good thing that we somehow recover from them),” Orcullo shared.

Now at an impressive 10-1 win-loss record, the Tamaraws will look to continue their dominance against the University of the Philippines next Sunday, April 12, at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila.

(Photo by James Neil Tamayo/FEU Advocate)