The Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws snapped out of their funk after taking down University of Santo Tomas last Saturday.
But the Lady Tamaraws were far from decisive in their five-set win against University of the East, Wednesday afternoon. FEU had a shot to end the match in the fourth set, leading 20-16. But UE rattled off nine straight points as FEU squandered several offensive opportunities.
FEU eventually took the match in the fifth set, with rookie Lycha Ebon providing crucial kills including the match’s last two points. Having the 19-year old provide crucial points has been an unexpected trend this season, since FEU’s seniors have yet to put up consistent numbers.
“‘Yung sa mga nag-expect, ‘di ko na po iniisip ‘yun.
“Basta ‘yung sa akin lang talaga ay makatulong kila ate at maipanalo ang season na ito,” said Ebon, who hung a career-best 21 points on UE.
For FEU head coach George Pascua, the team needs their seniors to contribute to better compliment their rookie’s performance.
“‘Ayun, sabi ko nga sa kanila, tulong-tulong. Kung si Lycha ang papatay ng bola, give it to her,” said Pascua as his graduating spikers Heather Guino-O and Jerrili Malabanan had just seven points between them.
“Kung sino ang gustong rumeceive, basta kailangan lahat sila mag-effort, especially sa fifth set. Kasi kanya-kanya sila ng role sa team. Basta kailangan lang tulungan lang nila ang kasama nila. Gusto ko kasi ipakita nila in action yung leadership nila. In action. So andyan naman ang mga rookies to support yung mga veterans.”
In the meantime, Ebon is determined to continue helping FEU as much as she can.
“Sinasabi ko lang sa sarili ko na hindi matakot. Kasi the more na matakot ako, the more na pangit ang performance ko. Iniisip ko lang kanina na dapat ilabas ko sa game yung pinag-train ko sa FEU.”
