Fernandez, Tagaod combine for 45 as FEU survives UE in 5-set slog

MANILA, Philippines – The FEU Lady Tamaraws continued to show clutch poise in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament as they outgunned the winless UE Lady Warriors, 25-19, 18-25, 25-12, 22-25, 15-5, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Wednesday, March 15.

Team veteran Chen Tagaod had the best game of her collegiate career with 23 points off 18 attacks, 3 blocks, and 2 aces, while fellow sophomore Jov Fernandez also fired off a career-best 22 points off 17 attacks and a game-high 5 rejections.

After four back-and-forth sets where both teams alternated set wins, FEU finally got its act together when it mattered most, sparking up a 6-1 start capped by a Gerzel Petallo block.

UE never threatened the game’s flow from that point as it only got as near as 10-5 before the Lady Tamaraws hammered down a 5-0 finishing kick, ending with a Mitzi Panangin off-the-block quick attack to formally even out their record at 3-3.

“I’m so happy because it’s just the first round and I’ll be honest, we’ve already exceeded expectations,” said FEU head coach Tina Salak in Filipino.

“Since we’re already here, we can’t stop. We can achieve higher expectations that I think are achievable so we can continue our journey this Season 85.”

KC Cepada paced UE’s sixth straight loss to start the season with 18 points, while Van Bangayan and captain Ja Lana added 17 and 14 points, respectively.

FEU earns much-needed momentum as it heads to its next match on Saturday, March 18, 3 pm, against the defending champion NU Lady Bulldogs, while hard-luck UE ends its first round campaign that same day at 11 am against the contending UST Golden Tigresses. – Rappler.com