By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles clawed back from a set down to beat Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-16, in their friendly game at the Talisay City Gym in Negros Occidental’s Talisay City on Tuesday night, December 20.
Lyann de Guzman, Vanessa Gandler and Joan Narit showed their way as the Blue Eagles completed a sweep of their two-game exhibition match with the Lady Tamaraws in Negros Occidental.
The Blue Eagles and the Lady Tamaraws traded runs in the opening set with no team leading by as much as five points, but FEU managed to put up some crucial hits to snatch the 1-0 set edge.
However, the Blue Eagles responded with a strong start in the second set behind De Guzman and Gandler, but the Lady Tamaraws kept the match close before Ateneo uncorked some late hits to preserve the set win.
It was a close game in the third set with Ateneo clinging to an 18-16 advantage before the Lady Tamaraws forced a deadlock at 20-all, but Ateneo had a 5-1 finishing run to take a 2-1 set advantage.
The Blue Eagles went for the kill in the fourth set as they cruised to a double-digit lead at 19-9 before the Lady Tamaraws cut it to 15-23 but back-to-back scores by the Ateneans ended the match.
Before Tuesday’s win in Talisay, the Blue Eagles also defeated the Lady Tamaraws, 25-23, 16-25, 26-28, 25-18, 15-10, at the University of St. La Salle Gym in Bacolod City on Monday night, December 19.
The two-day exhibition match capped off the week-long stay of the Blue Eagles and the Lady Tamaraws in Negros, which included some exhibition matches against local teams and Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts.
In the preliminary game, Abanse Negrense leaned on the exploits of Rizalie Amaro, Melony Amaro, Bea Tan, Gloria Yap, and Kim Gequillana to beat Talisay City selection in five sets.
It was the second straight exhibition match victory of the Abanse Negrense squad after also beating University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos in straight sets on Monday evening./ASC, WDJ