V-League: FEU gets boost from Daquis, Gonzaga, stays in semis hunt

MANILA, Philippines — Getting a much-needed boost from its new guest players, Far Eastern University fashioned out an easy 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 shutout of College of St. Benilde in the quarterfinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 11 First Conference Sunday at the Arena in San Juan.

Rachel Ann Daquis and Jovelyn Gonzaga, both national team players, immediately made their presence felt with 10 points each in just their first game with the Lady Tamaraws as reinforcements.

“Sobrang malaking bagay sila (They’re really a big help to the team),” said FEU coach Shaq delos Santos of Daquis and Gonzaga. “Dahil nga mga bata pa sila kailangan namin mag-lead sila sa loob mg court (my players are still young so we really need them (reinforcements) to lead the team inside the court).”

“At sinabi ko nga sa team, hindi din pwede na i-asa natin sa kanilang dalawa lahat, kailangan magtulungan (And like what I told the team, we can’t just solely pin our hopes to the two so we need to help each other out),” delos Santos added.

The Lady Tamaraws did show that they have each other’s backs with a total team effort.

Bernadette Pons, a diminutive but high-leaping spiker, actually led the team in scoring with a game-high 17 points while Remy Joy Palma added 12 to go along with two blocks.

Up two sets to none, FEU continued its strong play and zoomed to a 15-9 lead in the third set.

The Lady Tams improved to 1-1 after losing to the National University Lady Bulldogs in their previous outing and a win over the Arellano Lady Chiefs on Tuesday would book them a ticket to the semifinals.

Jannine Navarro and skipper Therese Veronas had 11 points apiece for the Lady Blazers, who fell out of semis contention after dropping to 0-2.

“Hopefully, magtuloy tuloy lang panalo namin (we can continue to win),” added delos Santos.

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