Volleyball: Tams march to V-League finals after sweeping Blazers

MANILA — Far Eastern University is still on track for a third consecutive V-League Collegiate Challenge crown.

The Tamaraws marched to the finals on Saturday after beating College of Saint Benilde anew, 25–23, 25–22, 25–18, to complete a sweep of their semifinal series at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

FEU will play the winner of the other semifinal pairing between National University and Colegio de San Juan de Letran. That series is going the distance after the Knights hacked out a five-set win over the Bulldogs earlier on Saturday.

With momentum on their side and a 2–0 lead, the Tamaraws shook off a 0–3 deficit in the third set and surged ahead, 8–4, at the first technical timeout, taking advantage of a full frontline and an aggressive Duola Ndongala in the middle.

Kyle Tandoc extended FEU’s cushion to eight, 14–6, drilling a down-the-line kill through the block. Benilde, however, answered with four straight points to cut the deficit.

That proved to be the Blazers’ last hurrah of the season, as a Xandrex Ragusta attack that clipped the line and two Ndongala blocks restored order and allowed the titleholders to complete the sweep.

“Bago kami pumunta ng Game 2, ‘yung unang inaral talaga namin is ‘yung eliminations, ‘yung umabot kami ng five sets. Medyo mahirap kami do’n kasi that was the first time kasi na magharap kami since last season. From that game, kailangan tayong mag-react sa mga mali nating ginawa,” said coach Jelord Talisayan.

Amet Bituin shone on both ends with 13 points, seven excellent receptions, and four digs, while Dryx Saavedra remained steady with 14 markers.

Middle blocker Ndongala, meanwhile, stifled Benilde’s offense with eight blocks, forcing the Blazers to second-guess their attacks and making it easier for the Tamaraws to finish in transition.

With a three-peat at stake, Talisayan, who captained the Tamaraws to the first of their back-to-back titles, wants to see the same consistency from his squad in the championship round.

“The Finals is about consistency, kung gaano kalinis gumalaw ‘yung players, kung gaano nila pinapahalagahan yung sistema kung sino man nakalaban namin sa Finals,” said the mentor.

The match began with the Tamaraws building on the momentum of their Game 1 victory, but the Blazers fought back to forge a 22-all deadlock in the first set.

Fortunately for the reigning back-to-back champions, captain Saavedra stepped up with two consecutive kills to give FEU the set.

Benilde then took advantage of transition plays to grab a 16–14 lead in the second set behind Reymark Betco and the rest of the Blazers.

FEU, however, leaned on its net defense to deny Betco twice. With Saavedra on point and Mikko Espartero chipping in, the Tamaraws unleashed a 5–1 run to seize a 2–0 advantage.

Betco still paced Benilde with 18 points on 17 kills and one block, while Rocky Motol chipped in 10 markers.

The Blazers will try to salvage a medal in Wednesday’s one-off bronze-medal match against the loser of the Bulldogs–Knights semifinal decider.

Game 1 of the best-of-three Finals series is set for Wednesday, October 7, at the same San Juan venue.