Lady Tams ease way to Final 4 over Maroons

MANILA, Philippines -  The Far Eastern U Lady Tams charged into the UAAP Season 79 women’s Final Four after smothering the University of the Philippines side, 25-16, 25-16, 27-25, yesterday at Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Lady Tams survived yet another make-or-break match, unleashing a strong finishing kick in the first two sets then staving off a UP rally in the third to book their eighth win in 14 games, in the process snaring a semis seat regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s matchup between No. 3 University of Santo Tomas (8-5) and No. 5 National U (7-6).

The Lady Maroons, one of the hot pre-tournament favorites, failed to live up to promise and sustain a 4-0 start as they bowed out with a 7-7 card.?“The players really wanted this,” said FEU coach Shaq delos Santos, whose wards wound up their elims campaign with a sweep of their last three games.

The FEU belles put themselves in a comfortable position in the chase for the remaining two semis berths.

In case NU beats UST in the final day of elims on Saturday, there will be three-way and the Lady Tams will take No. 3 position owing to superior ranking points versus the Tigresses and the Lady Bulldogs. If UST prevails over NU, the Tigresses will grab the third seed and the Lady Tams will occupy No. 4 against top two teams Ateneo and La Salle (both 11-2).

Buding Duremdes dished out 13 excellent digs and six excellent sets to man the floor for FEU as Bernadeth Pons (12), Tony Rose Basas (12), Heather Guino-o (11) and Remy Palma (10) led the offensive. 

Earlier, struggling Adamson finally broke through at the expense of University of the East, 25-15, 25-19, 25-15, to avert a winless season and snap a 20-game skid dating back to 2016.

Jema Galanza anchored the Lady Falcons’ dominating performance, punching in 15 points and had 18 digs and 12 receptions as determined AdU finished the tournament with 1-13.

Lady Falcons coach Airess Padda couldn’t hide her elation after chalking one up in a maiden season filled with frustration and bickering.