INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Cherry Ann Vivas took charge in the fifth set as the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws hacked out a pulsating 25-12, 22-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-9 triumph over the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles Sunday night in their knockout match for a semifinal berth at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

Vivas, the league?s leading scorer, finished with 25 points, including four in the final set as the Lady Tamaraws forged a best-of-three semifinal duel with the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses starting Tuesday.

Defending champion San Sebastian College tackles Adamson University in the other semifinal pairing.

?Her skills are improving that?s why we wanted her to take charge in the fifth set,? said FEU coach Ernesto Pamilar, whose squad entered the semifinal round for the second straight conference.

With Ateneo unable to consistently produce quality attacks because of its poor receptions, the Lady Tamaraws pulled away for a 10-3 advantage in the deciding set.

The Lady Eagles managed to trim the gap to two twice, the last at 9-11 on Mary Rose Cabanag?s attacking error, before their mediocre floor defense did them in again.

Cabanag, who chipped in six points, made amends with a service ace that put the Lady Tamaraws at match point, then Rachel Ann Daquis scored on a smash to wrap up the victory in an hour and 56 minutes.

Daquis, who anchored the Lady Tamaraws? defense at the backline in the final set, still finished with 20 points. Shaira Gonzales contributed 22 points on 19 attacks.

Pamilar attributed the victory to a defensive adjustment in the fifth set, where he put emphasis on blocking and left just three players on the backline to cover.

?We were able to cover the angles of their attack,? said Pamilar, whose team had a 72-51 edge on attack points.

The Lady Tamaraws breezed through the opening set, winning it in just 17 minutes.

But the Lady Eagles, who were coming off a morale-boosting five-set conquest of University of Santo Tomas, leaned on their superior blocking to take the next two frames.