When Far Eastern University came back from a two-set deficit against De La Salle in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament, the Lady Spikers knew they had a tough task at hand.
But all the Lady Spikers did was to calm down and get to 15 points faster than the Lady Tamaraws.
“We told ourselves that we should be composed, we should take this with a full heart, and that we will finish this match as the winners,” said Desiree Cheng in Filipino Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre.
The first third of the fifth set saw the Lady Spikers and Lady Tamaraws trade blows that eventually became a 5-5 stalemate, unbeknown to FEU the defending champions are just starting to heat up.
La Salle first took a 12-6 lead and created enough buffer away from FEU after Aduke Ogunsanya denied Jeanette Villareal.
And after net touch was called on the Lady Spikers to give FEU its seventh point, 12-7, La Salle ramped it up with Michelle Cobb’s connection to Cheng becoming the punctuation to the 25-22, 25-17, 24-26, 23-25, 15-7 win.
“We have this fighting spirit that we won’t let this one get away, that was what Kianna [Dy] and I were always saying, and that this game would be ours,” said Cheng who had 10 points in the game.
La Salle’s two-set blowout, though, that could’ve ended the match in just three sets had it score one more point.
The Lady Spikers were up 24-22 in the third set after MVP Mary Joy Baron’s quick kill, but La Salle managed to squander two match points and allowing FEU to score four straight.
Villareal blocked Ogunsanya to give FEU a 25-24 lead then Bernadeth Pons’ off speed kill brought gave the Lady Tamaraws the third set and that became their foundation in the comeback bid.
“I think we became too confident in the third set because we just had to score our last point and FEU was still far behind,” said Dy in Filipino. “I know we should work on our finishing capabilities.”
Dy finished with a team-high 18 points to lead La Salle as the Lady Spikers improved to an undefeated 3-0 card.
For Cheng, what allowed them to fight back against FEU was their will to succeed as the fifth set all boiled down to who wants to win the match more.
“Of course we’re the ones who really wanted to win this more than FEU, whoever wants the win more will win the game,” said Cheng.