Grieving Lady Tams, Golden Spikers book first semifinal berths

Kiesha Bedonia tries to find an angle for a kill off a San Sebastian block. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Far Eastern University’s (FEU) Lady Tamaraws and the Golden Spikers of University of Santo Tomas (UST) bagged the first semifinals berths in their respective divisions of the V-League Collegiate Challenge after impressive wins on Sunday at Paco Arena.

The Lady Tams’ fifth consecutive victory, though, was rooted in personal motivation.

“Our inspiration coming into the game was Faida’s (Bakanke) family. She lost her dad a few days ago so we’re giving everything to her,” player of the game Max Juangco said in Filipino on the heels of their 25-12, 25-18, 25-12 win over San Sebastian College-Recoletos.

Juangco exemplified how the Lady Tams played defense, finishing with 17 excellent digs before the others chipped in offensively in the rout.

“If I do my part for the team, my teammates would also do theirs and from that teamwork is where the good things come because I receive the first ball and all,” Juangco added.

The Lady Tams’ remaining assignments are College of St. Benilde on Friday, before facing University of the East, which is also on a winning run and battling Lyceum University at press time.

Streaking Santo Tomas

Meanwhile, Josh Ybanez carried the scoring load for the Golden Spikers with 33 points built around 29 kills in a 25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 25-18 victory over FEU as UST took over the No.1 spot from Ateneo.

The loss was the third in five games for the Tamaraws.

Rainier Flor added 14 points for the Golden Spikers and Gboy de Vega had 10. Dux Yambao was a key factor in UST’s charge, setting up the offense with 18 excellent sets.

But UST coach Odjie Mamon is still looking to improve their performance with his wards surrendering 36 errors, saying the España-based squad is still too “complacent” in their preparations for the UAAP season slated for later this year.

“They still have the tendency to revert back to the old style of playing, individualism is still there and I am trying to get rid of that because I want them to play within the system,” Mamon said. “Those are the things that we are trying to take out of our system because we have a guideline for everything that we do. We are still generous with our errors.”

The Golden Spikers will have a week to prepare for their clash with Ateneo on Sunday before their encounter with San Beda on Sept. 15.

“We can’t just defend against Ateneo, we should also be able to fight back,” Mamon added.

In the other men’s game, Emilio Aguinaldo College took down San Beda, 14-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17, 15-11, for its first win. INQ