By MARK REY MONTEJO
Staying composed amid adversities should always be the name of the game — and Far Eastern University learned it the hard way.
The Lady Tamaraws snapped their two-game slide after beating the gritty Ateneo Blue Eagles with a hard-earned 25-15, 20-25, 25-17, 24-26, 15-11 win Sunday, March 2, at Mall of Asia Arena.
“Siguro po ‘yong pagkapit po and respeto sa kalaban kasi medyo nawawala po kami do’n pag nanalo sa isang set [biglang] magre-relax sa next set,” said Gerz Petallo, who rallied the Tamaraws with 18 points on 14 kills and four blocks with nine excellent digs and 14 excellent receptions.
“So ‘yon po ‘yong natutunan po namin ngayon, na maging 100 percent palagi kasi ‘di lang naman po isang set [‘yong laban],” she added.
She took charge for the Tamaraws and got some help from Faida Bakanke, Mitzi Panangin, and Tin Ubaldo to shut down the Eagles who leaned on Lyann De Guzman’s 23-point explosion.
The Sampaloc-based squad was coming off heartbreaking defeats to National University and University of the Philippines.
Those losses proved that FEU was simply missing its endgame poise, something that the Tamaraws have addressed against the Eagles.
” Doon naman sa back-to-back losses, medyo mas masakit talaga na magkaroon ng gano’ng situation. Mahirapan din kami sa ranking,” said FEU head coach Tina Salak.
“Pero at the end of the day, kailangan namin magtrabaho ulit. Move forward tayo,” Salak added as her team improved to 2-2.
