FEU, UST battle to stay with leaders

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Jan 11th 2014

If their current records are any indication, Far Eastern University (FEU) and University of Santo Tomas (UST) are in danger of missing the Final Four anew.

But for the Lady Tamaraws and the Tigresses, it is too early to tell. And both teams are certainly out to improve their lot with a bounce-back win today in the 76^th UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at the San Juan Arena.

FEU (2-3) and UST (2-4) go for victory no.3 when they clash in the 4 p.m. main game.

The Lady Tamaraws are coming off a 19-25, 17-25, 16-25, loss to defending champion De La Salle University last Sunday.

Ranged against the more experienced and taller Lady Spikers, the Lady Tamaraws played with no urgency at all, especially on the receiving end which greatly affected their offensive execution.

As it turned out, none of the Lady Tamaraws made a significant stride offensively with Geneveve Casugod scoring just nine point to lead the vanquished Morayta unit.

Worse, the Lady Tamaraws yielded 24 error points and 37 hits to the Lady Spikers.

UST meanwhile dropped a 25-15, 23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 13-15 gut-wringer to Ateneo de Manila University last Wednesday.

Pam Lastimosa sizzled for a career-high 23 points on 17 hits and five blocks while Carmela Tunay and rookie Marivic Meneses added 17 and 12 but their efforts were put to naught against the gallant stand of the Lady Eagles.

UST gave up 57 kills to Ateneo but had more blocks, 15-5, in the process behind Tunay and Jessy de Leon.

A victory by UST will catapult the Tigresses to fifth place. But if FEU wins, the Lady Tamaraws then cuts Adamson University’s lead (3-2) by just half a game at 3-3.

The game will air live on Studio 23, BALLS HD 167 and uaapsports.tv with a same day replay at 10 p.m. on BALLS SkyCable channel 34/ Destiny Cable channel 36.