MANILA, Philippines—Far Eastern University had Ateneo by its throat on Sunday.
The Lady Tamaraws needed to score just 25 more points and the three-set win would be theirs, but instead of finishing things off, they just choked.
Instead, the Lady Eagles pulled off a stunning comeback, 14-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-12, for its second win in three games in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament.
“We should have a killer instinct,” said FEU head coach George Pascua in Filipino Sunday at Filoil Flying V Center. “No one led the team in the crucial moments, no one wanted to get the ball, no one wanted a kill.”
“It should be in the character. We also had a few unforced errors and it happened to be crucial points.”
The Lady Tamaraws showed some grit in the fifth set when it went tit-for-tat with the Lady Eagles all the way to a 12-12 stalemate.
Then, disaster struck.
Kyle Negrito, FEU’s fourth-year setter, first committed an overset to Celine Domingo that gave Ateneo the 13-12 lead.
That error, however, was just the first of two when Negrito tossed the ball way over the Lady Eagles’ baseline that put FEU behind 14-12.
Kat Tolentino, who entered the third set with just two points, then, finished things off with a booming kill that landed squarely on FEU’s defense for her 19th point.
Pascua said that even though his Lady Tamaraws botched the match, he’s still positive and that they will bounce back from their early 1-2 record.
“We’re still a positive bunch,” said Pascua. “It’s a long journey, the UAAP is a long tournament. We’re taking it one at a time. We can’t go back, it’s already over, we just have to take a step forward.”
“We just have to learn from this, that’s the important thing. Once they learn, things will eventually get easier and the players would be able to know how to handle these types of situations.”