MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Far Eastern University (FEU) recovered from back-to-back losses with a win over a University of Santo Tomas (UST) side that suffered a huge blow in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament. 

FEU rallied from a set down to hack out a 19-25, 25-20, 25-19, 27-25 victory against a UST squad that lost standout spiker Milena Alessandrini to injury on Saturday, March 2, at the Araneta Coliseum. (READ: Milena Alessandrini succumbs to knee injury)

Celine Domingo led the pack with 17 points off 9 attacks, 6 blocks and 2 aces, followed by Heather Guino-o with 14 points.

“Sabi ko, balik ulit kasi maraming experiences na nangyari na naka-two sets kami, pagdating ng 4th or 5th doon bumibigay, ” said FEU head coach George Pascua after the Lady Tamaraws wrapped up the game with an extended 4th set. 

“Iyon ang mga crucial sets, kailangan mag-mature kami sa ganoong scenario.”

(We had a lot of experiences that we already got two sets then we concede the lead by the 4th or 5th set. Those are the crucial sets. We need to mature in those scenarios.)

FEU and UST wound up tied in the middle of the pack with 2-2 records.

The Lady Tamaraws dropped the 1st set after Eya Laure sparked the UST offense with back-to-back points, 20-18, as the Tigresses closed out the opening frame with a 8-1 run.

UST managed to overturn an early deficit by the second technical timeout,16-13, of the 2nd set but their momentum got halted as Alessandrini suffered an injury.

With UST up 18-17 lead, Alessandrini soared for a spike but landed awkwardly. The Fil-Italian remained on the floor for several minutes before getting stretchered off the court.

From there, the Tigresses just lost their groove and conceded the lead as FEU evened the match with an 8-2 close out. 

FEU continued on to take the 3rd set as Sisi Rondina also suffered cramps that further depleted UST’s firepower.

Still, UST managed to put up a fight in the 4th frame as the Tigresses extended the set, 24-24 after a double contact error by Jeanette Villareal. Crucial UST errors, however, gifted FEU with the win.

Laure notched 20 points, all from spikes, while Rondina tallied 16 points off 15 spikes and 1 ace in UST’s losing effort. – Rappler.com