MANILA – University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons banked on the solid playmaking of Ilongga Marianne Sotomil to beat Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, 25-10, 25-19, 25-7, in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Pavia, Iloilo’s Sotomil tossed 18 excellent sets to go with four points to earn the Player of the Game honors as the Fighting Maroons snapped its two-game slide to improve to 5-6 win-loss slate.
Negrense Alyssa Bertolano spearheaded the offense with 14 points while also adding seven excellent digs, and four excellent receptions. Ethan Arce and Stephanie Bustrillo chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, for UP.
The Fighting Maroons took a dominant set in the opener behind Bertolano, Arce and Bustrillo before feeling some resistance from the side of the Lady Tamaraws in the second frame.
FEU failed to sustain the same energy in the third set as UP established a 16-point advantage at 22-6 following an attack errors by Lady Tamaraws rookie Julianne Monares.
“They did a really, really good job,” said UP head coach Godfrey Okumu. “They gave their best. We’ve been struggling, until today we were not able to find our rhythm and I’d say the girls did fantastic.”
Jean Asis and Chen Tagaod paced the decimated Lady Tamaraws with six points each while Roselle Asis and Jovelyn Fernandez had three markers apiece.
The Lady Tamaraws, who were already out of Final Four contention, suffered their eighth consecutive defeat to remain at seventh place with its 1-10 win-loss slate.
De La Salle University Lady Spikers, meanwhile, cruised to solo second place in the standings with 8-3 following a 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 25-8 domination over University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses (7-4).
After failing to close out the match in the third set, the Lady Spikers were blazing in the fourth frame as they zoomed to an 8-2 start before widening the lead to double figures and never looked back./PN
