MANILA, Philippines – For the third straight season, the Ateneo Blue Eagles crashed out of the UAAP women’s volleyball title picture as the contending FEU Lady Tamaraws rolled to a four-set win, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-13, at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, April 9.
Third-running FEU stayed half a game behind No. 2 La Salle (8-3) with an 8-4 record, keeping the door to the two Final Four twice-to-beat bids wide open with top-ranked NU (10-2) and No. 4 UST (7-4) also in the mix.
Ateneo, meanwhile, sunk to seventh place with a 4-8 slate, below an Adamson side (4-7) still mathematically in the Final Four picture.
Faida Bakanke led all scorers with 19 points off 15 attacks and 4 blocks, while all-around threat Gerzel Petallo scattered a triple-double of 13 points, 14 excellent receptions, and 12 digs.
Rookie middle blocker and Alas Pilipinas tryout invitee Clarisse Loresco also made the most of her two sets on the floor, tallying 7 points with 3 blocks as FEU came within a win of a Final Four return.
On the heels of three nip-and-tuck sets that put the Lady Tamaraws up two sets to one, Ateneo met an early derailment to its comeback bid as it fell, 8-3, no thanks to multiple errors and Chenie Tagaod block points on the Blue Eagle attackers.
Ateneo only got as near as 4, 12-8, before FEU staged one final breakaway to the tune of an 8-2 run, ending with a 20-10 separation that the Blue Eagles never recovered from.
AC Miner paced the ousting loss with 17 points, while Jihan Chuatico scored 13 as captain Lyann de Guzman got checked to just 7 points. – Rappler.com
