UP, FEU force four-way logjam for fourth spot in UAAP Volleyball
MANILA, Philippines—It’s Final Four, not final eight.
After Far Eastern University conquered University of the Philippines, 19-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19, on Thursday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Final Four race of the UAAP Season 77 Volleyball Tournament got even more complicated.
The Lady Tamaraws and the Lady Maroons joined the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses and the Adamson Lady Falcons in a four-way dance for the fourth seed.
All four teams have 5-8 win-loss records.
Lady Tamaraws head coach Shaq delos Santos said this season has been a difficult one for FEU and he was thankful to God for the blessing of a possible Final Four entry.
“If we get the chance for the Final Four, of course we’ll grab it,” delos Santos said. “I want to give my players the chance to get what they want.”
“God is good. If we overcome this, we will have a tougher test ahead but God is good.”
FEU had the lead, 20-16, in the fourth set, but the Lady Fighting Maroons, buoyed by the crowd, closed the gap, 21-19, with Nicole Tiamzon scoring off the Lady Tams blockade and Marian Buitre denying Heather Guino-o.
The Lady Tamaraws, however, leaned on great composure with Geneveve Casugod stepping up in the clutch.
Casugod gave FEU a 23-19 lead off the UP block to silence the Lady Maroons crowd before she gave her team the 24-20 match point off a runner.
Mary Palma would seal it for FEU with a simple tap that found the perfect spot.
Delos Santos told his team find motivation from the UP cheers.
“I told them to get the spirit from those cheers, visualize that they are cheering for you, but you should stop them if you get the chance.”
Bernadeth Pons led FEU with 20 points while Palma and Casugod added 16 and 13, respectively.
Angeli Araneta and Marian Buitre combined for 26 to lead UP.
