Lady Tams defang Tigresses

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Jan 11th 2014

Far Eastern University (FEU) bucked a tentative start then flaunted its resiliency and poise down the stretch to outdo a hard-fighting University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Saturday in the 76th UAAP women's volleyball tournament at the San Juan Arena.

The Lady Tamaraws caught fire in the middle sets and never looked back en route to a 15-21, 25-15, 25-22, 25-22 victory against the Tigresses, giving FEU its third win in six outings.

Remy Palma exploded with a career-best 20 points highlighted by 15 kills and four blocks to power FEU, which moved just half a game behind provisional fourth-placer Adamson University.

Newcomers Bernadette Pons and Geneveve Casugod added 13 and 10 points, respectively to fuel the Lady Tamaraws’ belated offensive surge.

UST though appeared headed to pull away early, building an 18-11 lead in the first set on Lastimosa’s forays. Capitalizing on FEU’s so-so form, the Tigresses proceeded to clinch the opening frame.

But the Lady Tamaraws soon found their rhythm in the second canto as Casugod imposed her presence upfront to derail the Tigresses’ attacks while FEU zoomed ahead, 16-8. Palma then joined the fray, unloading crisp quick attacks to push the Lady Tamaraws further, 19-9, and eventually knot the match at 1-set apiece.

FEU however met a resurgent UST squad in the third as both teams engaged in a nip-and-tuck affair. The Tigresses grabbed a 20-18 edge on Lastimosa’s back-to-back hits but FEU quickly tied the count.

A service ace by Pons then put the Lady Tamaraws up, 22-21, for good.

Despite wresting the momentum from UST, the Lady Tamaraws saw themselves falling to a 1-8 hole in the fourth set. Yet slowly, the Lady Tamaraws regained their composure midway through the contest o narrow the gap, 13-16, before tying it anew at 20-all.

With Palma virtually unchallenged up top and the rest of the Lady Tamaraws covering the defensive floor well, the Lady Tamaraws seized matchpoint, 24-21, to ice the game.

Visibly outmuscled atop the net, the Tigresses yielded a 12-5 blocking result to the Lady Tamaraws. UST remained stuck at fifth place with a 2-4 card.