Games on Saturday (Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
2 p.m. – FEU vs AdU
5 p.m. – UST vs NU
Far Eastern University moved on the cusp of a podium finish, escaping Adamson with a 25-20, 25-19, 12-25, 14-25, 15-12 win in Game 1 of the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship bronze medal match on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The Lady Tamaraws wasted a 2-0 lead, but recovered in the nick of time behind the heroics of Faida Bakanke and Chenie Tagaod for a 1-0 upperhand in the short best-of-three series for third place.
With little to no breather, FEU plunges back to action in Game 2 on Saturday with hopes of finishing off Adamson and securing the bronze in the SSL Season 2 backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.
Reigning champion National U and challenger Santo Tomas were still playing as of press time also in Game 1 of their own race-to-two titular showdown.
Bakanke fired 18 points on 17 hits while Tagaod added 12 points, highlighted by the game’s last two points, as the Lady Tamaraws shored up their SSL redemption tour after settling for a quarterfinal finish in the inaugural season.
The Bakanke-Tagaod dueo drew ample support from Gerzel Petallo and with eight points as well as Christine Ubaldo and Zyra Danica Morales with six points apiece.
“Na-test yung character ng team kasi knowing na nung eliminations eh nanalo kami against Adamson so siguro, masyado silang naging complacent :nung nakakuha ng dalawang sets kaya nawala ‘yung drive,” said coach Manolo Refugia.
“At least, na-test ‘yung maturity ng team bandang dulo at nakuha namin.”
FEU swept Adamson in the pool play, 25-20, 25-22, 25-20, and poisef for another convincing win only to witness a fiery fightback from the San Marcelino-based spikers.
With skipper Lucille Almonte, Lorene Toring and Maria Rochelle Lalongisip joining forces, the Lady Falcons unleashed similar 10-4 starts in the next two sets for commanding wins, 25-12 and 25-14, that set the stage for the deciding duel.
There, FEU waxed hot early by erecting a 4-0 start and what seemed a comfortable 11-6 gap only for Lalongisip to ignite another rally for Adamson, which zeroed in on at 11-13 down the wire.
And when the Lady Tamaraws were in search for answers amidst another meltdown, Tagaod heeded the call by uncorking back-to-back hammers to rescue the Morayta-based hitters.
Lalongisip, Toring and Almonte put up 15, 14 and 11 points, respectively, in the Lady Falcons’ foiled comeback.
Meanwhile, College of St. Benilde claimed the fifth spot while Ateneo clinched the seventh place in the SSL Season 2 in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.
St. Benilde hacked out a 25-12, 20-25, 22-25, 29-27, 15-4 win over the University of the East while Ateneo escaped Arellano, 25-16, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11.
All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.