
By NIKOLE JAVIER
Far Eastern University showed composure in the last frame to come away with a 25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24 victory over the University of the Philippines for its first win in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Playmaker Tin Ubaldo delivered the goods for FEU after finishing with 16 excellent sets apart from tallying five points off three attacks and two blocks.
Meanwhile, three other FEU players scored in double figures, with Jovelyn Fernandez finishing 18 points.
The Lady Tamaraws, who were reeling from their bottom-placed finish last year, are back on the right footing and snapped their 11-game losing streak under debuting head coach Tina Salak.
After dropping the second frame, FEU refused to be stomped further into the ground in the next two frames and fought hard in the final one to come away with the victory.
Tied at 24-all, Kary Truz took matters into her own hands with a kill to put FEU at match point before UP committed a conclusive attack error that sealed the win.
"It's a good start, definitely a good start for the team, sa program and also doon sa community. Even nagsa-struggle kami doon sa training and sa past experiences nila. We have proven na kaya namin ma-overcome. So, good problem lang nito is we have to improve more. Mag-set kami ng expectation na ngayon nagkaroon na ng baseline. Maraming pang aspects malayo pa to," said Salak.
Alyssa Bertolano paced the Fighting Maroons with a 14-point outing, while Nina Ytang added 13. Jewel Encarnacion and Stephanie Bustrillo contributed 12 markers each as they absorbed their first loss of the season.