Blazing FEU stays grounded ahead of second round

Far Eastern University is the hottest team in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament right now after ending its first round campaign on a four-game winning streak.

And although the Lady Tamaraws have staked ownership of the second seed in the tournament, skipper Bernadeth Pons knows they have to stay grounded if they plan to sustain their scorching play into the latter half of the season.

“I’m always reminding my teammates that even though we are winning, we should not let up because the season is still a long way from being over,” said Pons in Filipino Saturday at Mall of Asia arena after blasting University of Santo Tomas in straight sets, 25-16, 25-22, 25-20.

The victory propelled the Lady Tamaraws to a 5-2 record, tied with La Salle at second place.

Pons said the team was in an elated mood after winning their last game before the second round, but she knows being complacent is not an option for them.

“It was a nice finish in the first round, we have five wins against two losses, and we played really well today,” said Pons whose team committed 17 errors against the Golden Tigresses, their best outcome this season after averaging 33.33 miscues per game.

“We have to work even harder if we want to replicate in the second round what we did in the first round.”

FEU also limited Cherry Rondina who, prior to facing the Lady Tamaraws averaged 23.33 points per game, to just 11 points.

“It all began in our training sessions where we talked on how we would stop Sisi,” said Pons who finished with eight points against UST. “Sis likes to hit crosscourt kills so we just have to put blockers on her way and it became effective for us.”