MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws defeated the Adamson Lady Falcons in a 5-set thriller, 25-22, 25-27, 14-25, 25-22, 15-12, on Saturday, April 7, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

After trailing Adamson, 8-10, head coach George Pascua called a timeout that saw FEU rally back with 7-2 run to solidify their 3rd place standing. 

The Lady Tamaraws are in the Final 4 again for the 4th straight time as they stand at 8-5, while the Lady Falcons fall to 5-7 in the UAAP Season 80 Women’s Volleyball tournament. 

Bernadeth Pons topscored for FEU with 22 points and led the defense with 23 excellent digs and 24 excellent receptions. 

Jema Galanza led the Lady Falcons with 16 points while making 15 excellent receptions. 

Trailing 10-12 in the first set, FEU scored 8 unanswered points that took the lead and pulled it away. The Lady Tamaraws almost collapsed in the last stretch due to errors that cut the lead to two, 23-21. 

Cel Domingo brought it to set point and a block on Galanza closed out the first set to FEU’s favor.

Adamson dominated the early with an 8-2 start to the second set. After pulling away to a 10-point lead, 16-6, the Lady Tamaraws blasted with a 10-2 run to take the lead by one. 

As Bernadeth Pons brought it to set point, Joy Dacoron and Fhen Emnas’ attacks extended the set. 

After Heather Guino-o nabbed set point 2 for FEU, a Lean Perez block and back-to-back wide attacks by Pons evened the match at one-set apiece.  

Adamson controlled the 3rd set as it raced to set point quickly as FEU was plagued with errors. A drop by Emnas nabbed the set point and Galanza closed it out with a 2-1 advantage for the Lady Falcons. 

The Lady Tamaraws prevented Adamson from taking the match as they preserved at 3-point cushion, 16-13, until the Lady Falcons tied it twice before Domingo and Pons combined for 3 unanswered points that sent the match to a deciding set. – Rappler.com