FEU Tamaraws in a UAAP Season 85 men’s volleyball tournament. –UAAP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Far Eastern University recovered from a slow start to survive winless but hard-fighting Adamson, 31-33, 25-17, 25-17, 25-23, to regain its winning ways in the UAAP Season 85 men’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
The Tamaraws were on the verge of taking the extended opening set after Martin Bugaoan’s block, 31-30, but Dryx Saavedra’s serve went out. The Falcons stole the first set as Jude Aguilar and Francis nailed back-to-back attacks.
FEU got its act together and bounced back in the next two sets with Mark Calado leading the way to take a 2-1 match advantage. However, Adamson refused to give up in the fourth, erasing a 21-23 deficit as Aguilar tied the set with two consecutive kills.
Jomel Codilla stopped the bleeding with a cross-court kill to reach match point, 24-23 before Bugaoan ended the two-hour and 13-minute match.
“We struggled but the team had a good response because it’s hard for a new team like us to stand up when we stumble. I think, step by step, we were able to do it. Good game for both teams. Adamson is a good team,” said FEU coach Rei Diaz in Filipino after surviving 40 errors in the game.
Calado led FEU with 24 points built on 20 attacks, three blocks, and an ace to go with 17 receptions and 10 digs to bounce back from a five-set loss to University of Santo Tomas last Wednesday.
Setter Benny Martinez dished out 25 excellent sets as Bugaoan finished with 18 points, while Saavedra had 16 points to improve their record to 2-1.
It was an honor for Diaz to withstand the tough challenge of Adamson coach George Pascua, who used to be his mentor and a former FEU women’s coach.
“As expected, it’s hard to win because knowing coach George’s system, he doesn’t give up. So his players adapt his attitude,” the FEU coach said. “We just focused on our team. We are facing former Tamaraws, If we are brave, we have to be braver in this game.”
Adamson slid to 0-3 with Joshua Magalaman leading the way with 15 points. Aguilar and Casas added 15 and 10 points, respectively.