Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Far Eastern University rallied back and stunned second-seeded National University, 22-25, 26-24, 28-26, 25-17, to force a do-or-die match in the UAAP Season 79 men’s volleyball Final Four Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The third-seeded Tamaraws have to beat the Bulldogs twice in the semifinals stepladder if they want to face the undefeated Ateneo Blue Eagles in the championship round.
FEU used a balanced offensive scheme to force NU to the ropes with four Tamaraws scoring in double figures.
Jude Garcia had a game-high 16 points while Richard Solis and Gregorio Dolor had 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Redijohn Paler rounded out the scoring party for FEU as he finished with 10 points.
Responsible for FEU’s scoring exploits was setter Ronchette Lee who had 44 excellent sets in the match.
FEU head coach Rey Diaz said they had to tone down their intensity at the start of the second set after they dropped the opening period.
“The players were tensed and they were tight in the first set,” said Diaz. “So I told them to step back a little because they should be relaxed so that they can get their rhythm.”
“They all wanted to score on powerful kills in the first set, but that led to errors on our part.”
FEU committed 39 errors, two more than NU did, but made up for it as the Tamaraws had a 47-41 advantage in scoring spikes.
Bryan Bagunas led NU with 13 points while James Natividad and Madz Gampong had 10 points apiece.