By Aimerose C. Atienza

Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraw Faida Bakanke orchestrated 14 points as they defeated the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons, 25-13, 25-22, 25-17, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 women’s volleyball tourney held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City earlier today, March 9.

Morayta’s reinforcement spiker led with 13 attacks out of the 50 spikes output of the team.

In a post-game conference, Bakanke highlighted the determination they had after dropping two consecutive matches.

“We lost two games… we also have determination to come back as one in this game,” she said.

Two Lady Tams tallied 12 markers apiece with Chenie Tagaod and Gerzel Petallo.

The green-and-gold team claimed an early double-digit lead as they easily challenged AdU’s floor defense to start the match, 16-6.

FEU playmaker Tin Ubaldo also managed to distribute sets to all her attackers which extended their 10-point lead deficit to 12, closing the first set at 25-13.

Coming into the second set, the Lady Falcons made sure to mount a comeback against FEU as they led early on a 4-7 rally. 

However, the Manolo Refugia-squad forced Adamson into a 12-12 deadlock, courtesy of Tagaod’s straight attack. 

FEU kept the momentum going as outside hitter Petallo closed the set two with a down-the-line hit.

The Morayta-based squad did not look back as they kept limited errors and utilized all spiking positions to rise to a 3-3 win-loss record.

Head coach Refugia attributed the win to the team’s grit to play as they have trained.

“Gigil talaga kami na makabawi from that dalawang sunod na pagkatalo… Na-execute naman namin ‘yung pinag-aralan namin, ‘yung mga baon namin (We were really desperate to recover from those two consecutive defeats... We were able to execute what we studied, what we brought with us),” he mentioned.

FEU will attempt to close the first round with a win against the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles next Sunday, March 16.

(Photo by Ralph Castro/FEU Advocate)