MANILA, Philippines – In the second set, Bernadeth Pons committed a crucial error on the service line that made FEU head coach George Pascua grab his player’s warmers and go: 

Things are getting too close for comfort  #UAAPSeason80Volleyball pic.twitter.com/sm4SkdUrZK

— ABS-CBN Sports (@abscbnsports) February 28, 2018

“Crucial eh. Nakakapanghinayang lang kasi. Di bale ng mamatay sa paluan, huwag lang sa service kasi yun ang nakakapagpatay sa amin eh kaya as much as possible eh iwasan,” said Pascua about his reaction. 

“Kaya ayun yung reaction ko pero out of nowhere yun. Di ko naman alam na nakita sa TV.”

(It was crucial. It was a waste. It’s okay if it’s an attack error, just not the service because that’s the one that will kill us so as much as possible we have to avoid it. That’s why that was my reaction but it was out of nowhere. I didn’t know that it was seen on TV.)

Pons’ service error saw FEU go down 23-20, but little did Pascua and his team know that this would drastically shift their momentum. 

“Ako. Nakita ko kasi ako nag-serve nun eh,” said Pons when asked about who saw Pascua’s actions. “Siyempre crucial na kasi yun eh. Line of 20 na yung score, palaging sinasabi na ni coach na talagang nakakabago ng momentum yung service error.”

(Me. I saw it because I was the one who served. Of course, that was crucial. The score was at the line of 20 and coach always says that the momentum really changes with a service error.)

“Noong after ng nangyari yun, andun na yung drive ko na babawi ako,” added Pons

(After that happened, the drive to make up for things was there.)

Even though NU took the second set, the Lady Tamaraws rallied back from a 21-17 disadvantage to extend the set by tying the score at 24-all. They then took the 3rd set up by 12 points and finished the match in 4 sets. 

Pascua and his squad were eagerly prepared for the currently first seed team. Everything bore fruit from practicing on their service-receives as well as limiting NU stalwart Jaja Santiago to only 13 points. 

“Pinractice namin yung service-receive. Nag materialize naman. Saka yung block namin kay Jaja. 80% nasunod yung game plan,” said Pascua. 

(We practiced our service-receive. It materialized. And our blocks on Jaja, we followed our game plan.) 

The Lady Tamaraws will face the Sisi-Rondina-led University of Santo Tomas in their next game on Saturday, March 3 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Their 3rd straight win, especially against the Lady Bulldogs, will play a big factor in their match against the Tigresses. 

“Nakuha na namin ngayon, pero may isa pa (game). Kailangan pa namin mag focus. Bitbit na namin yung confidence na naipanalo namin yung game ngayon,” said FEU captain Pons. 

(We got it this time, but we have one more game. We still have to focus. We are carrying the confidence that we won from this game.) – Rappler.com