V-League: Daquis powers FEU to semis berth with win over Arellano

The Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws bagged a ticket to the semifinal round of the Shakey’s V-League Season 11-1st Conference, as they defeated the Arellano Lady Chiefs in four sets, 25-16 25-15 24-26 25-16, Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“Hopefully magtuloy-tuloy ang maganda naming performance,” said FEU head coach Cesael Delos Santos. “Mas aangat na yung kalaban namin at kailangan magdouble effort kami sa practice.”

He continued by saying how the Lady Tamaraws are ready to compete no matter who their matchup will be. “Basta ang focus is magcompete nang maganda at maipanalo ang laban,” Delos Santos added.

Arellano had a quick start in the first set with a 5-2 advantage due to Rachelle Ann Daquis’ reception errors. Fortunately for the Lady Tamaraws, Jovelyn Gonzaga’s arsenal of down the line kills and off-speed winners helped FEU reclaim the lead at 10-9. Remy Palma and Bernadette Pons’ efficiency from the service zone then sparked an 8-2 scoring run that placed FEU on top at 18-11.

The Lady Tamaraw’s accuracy in their serves remained consistent as back-to-back service aces by Daquis sealed the opening set with a nine-point 25-16 win.

The Lady Chiefs continued to struggle as the Lady Tamaraws opened the second set with an 8-3 start by the first technical timeout. A string of winners from Daquis coupled with three straight attack errors by Arellano capped off a 9-1 scoring outburst that positioned the score in a lopsided 17-4 mark in favor of Far Eastern.

Arellano was able to escape the deficit with a block by Christine Rosario, a spike by Elaine Sagun and an FEU positional fault that inched them closer at 19-11. Unfortunately for the Lady Chiefs, it was a case of too little and too late as Daquis found her groove on the defensive end with her blocks. Daquis ended the second set by the same manner she finished the first, as her service ace gave FEU the 25-15 victory.

Arellano answered back in the third set as they capitalized on multiple errors by the Lady Tamaraws. A Pons error gave the Lady Chiefs an 11-7 advantage early in the set. The Lady Chiefs were able to sustain their momentum as Shirley Salamagos served as a defensive wall for Arellano. Errors by Daquis accompanied by Jovielyn Prado and Danna Henson’s stellar performance, and the Lady Chiefs were able to grab set point at 24-20.

The Lady Tamaraws retaliated as Pons gave the Lady Chiefs’ defenders a huge task at hand, as her spikes continuously found their mark for an FEU point. A running attack by Palma tied the set at 24-all, before the duo of Prado and Henson composed Arellano and scored on two straight opportunities, to grab the third at 26-24.

The fourth set saw a resurgence from FEU, as they were able to regain the dominant pace they had in the first two. Gonzaga, Pons and Daquis sparked the Lady Tamaraws to the victory. A cleanly-hit spike by Gonzaga that went through Arellano’s defenders ended the match with the score of 25-16.

“Yung consistency medyo nawala noong third set,” said Delos Santos, though overall, he was pleased by the performance of his squad. Gonzaga and Daquis, the team’s two guest players, finished as the match’s top scorers with 21 and 20 points respectively. The guest player duo also finished as the team’s leaders in the digs department as Gonzaga tallied 13 while Daquis contributed 8.

Palma followed with 14 markers while Pons notched 11 as the Lady Tamaraws outscored the Lady Chiefs, 51-34 in points won in attacks. FEU also had a 10-3 advantage in the service zone with Daquis tallying five service aces. - AMD, GMA News

P-2 for Match 35_ FEU-AUN by GMA News Online