By Gio Carlo D. Castro and Joaquin Luis E. Quesada

Coming from a loss to Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) that halted their seven-game perfect run, Far Eastern Univeristy (FEU) had 10 days off to retrofit their winning column before they bounced back from the loss and cruised past the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Spikers in four sets, 25-15, 26-28, 25-22, 25-14.

The Tamaraws now have swept the Tigers in the elimination round in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season 81 men’s volleyball tournament, March 31 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

FEU head coach Rey Diaz told FEU Advocate that the 10-day break served as one of the opportunities for the team to prepare well and recover their form.

"Malaking tulong ‘yung mahabang break kasi nakapag-prepare kami. Binigyan tayo ni Lord ng mahabang preparasyon. Napakagandang gift kasi sa totoo lang mahirap maka-recover [mula sa unang talo] (The long break was a big help [to the team] because we were given enough time to prepare. The Lord gave us a long preparation. It’s a beautiful gift because to be honest, it’s hard to recover coming off a first loss),” Diaz admitted.

The Morayta-based squad have now taken the solo second seed with an 8-1 win-loss slate behind the league-leading defending champions, National University (NU) Bulldogs. FEU added more misery to the Tigers as their losing streak extended to four.

Looking back on the 10-day break, coach Diaz added, “‘Yung 10 days na ‘yun, na-grant natin as opportunity para sa pagbangon natin (So that ten days, we granted it as an opportunity to recover).”

FEU strong-armed UST at the tip-off as they took the first set. But the España-based spikers snatched the second set from the Tamaraws before they went all-out to close the game and keep the Tigers out of the Final Four picture.

The duo of John Paul Bugaoan and Jude Garcia played key roles for the team with their combined 35 points. FEU skipper Richard Solis had 11 markers while setter Owen Suarez tallied 31 excellent sets to fire up the Tams for a total of 51 attack points.

As coach Diaz concludes his statement, he pointed out one thing that gave the team its victory – the unity and connection not only among the players, but also the team management and supporters.

“Isa kasing nagpapanalo talaga sa team eh ‘yung unity ng bawat isa. Makikita mo talaga ‘yung coaches nagtutulungan, ‘yung players, ‘yung supporters, lahat kasi ‘yan ginagawan namin ng connection para sa ikakatibay ng samahan ng FEU men’s volleyball team (One thing that gives the team its win is the unity among selves. You’ll see the coaches helping each other, the players, the supporters, we make connection to all of them in order to strengthen the bond of FEU men’s volleyball team),” he ended.

With this win, FEU secured at least a spot in the Final Four along with NU. The green-and-gold spikers will face the Adamson University (AdU) on April 3 at the FilOil Flying V Centre.