Far Eastern University showed resolve in crunch time to sweep Ateneo de Manila University, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19, and finish the first round with a share of the top spot in the UAAP Season 86 Men’s Volleyball Tournament at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, Sunday.
The Tamaraws rose to 6-1, knotted with National University, which was the only team who beat them. Still, the former got the pole position due to superior points.
“Malaking factor sa amin na meron kaming one week break. Yung errors na small things naicorrect kahit papaano. Yung preparation ng one week napakalaking bagay,” said FEU head coach Eddieson Orcullo.
The Blue Eagles were just within one midway the third frame but rookies Lirick Mendoza and Andrei Delicana linked up to lead the Tamaraws to the win in just one hour and 24 minutes.
It was a balanced attack for FEU, getting 12 points from Martin Bugaoan, 11 from Dryx Saavedra, and 10 from Mendoza.
Delicana and Jayjay Javelona also added 12 points apiece while Ariel Cacao tallied 20 excellent sets along with six points on a game-high five blocks.
“Overwhelming sa standing namin kahit ngayon and syempre based sa stats kanina, lagi lang namin iniisip sa court na every game is a championship game so lahat ng game all out kami,” said Bugaoan, the younger brother of former Tamaraw JP who currently plays for Cignal.
The Blue Eagles, after their stunning win over University of Santo Tomas, have absorbed back-to-back losses to drop to 3-4, tied with Adamson University for fifth.
Jian Salarzon paced Ateneo with 15 points and 16 receptions, while Amil Pacinio and Ken Batas had 11 points each.
