November 15, 2023

FEU-Chef on a Diet rolls past Xentro Mall to gain Pool D lead

Far Eastern University-Chef on a Diet picked up its third consecutive victory after taking care of business against Xentro Mall-Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference, Wednesday at the Paco Arena in Manila.


 


The Tamaraws overcame an error-plagued performance to rise up to the top spot of Pool D with a clean 3-0 record.


 


“Siguro baka ano lang, yung errors kasi ang dami dikit dikit. Parang hindi pa natatapos yung one to 10 na points parang anim na agad yung binibigay na service errors,” rued FEU head coach Eddision Orcullo.


 


“Service error itself pa lang eh meron pang attack error, net pa. Tulad niyan, kung na-straight sets sana ang laking factor eh minsan dahil sa error nakakakuha ng set yung opponent. Minsan nakakadisappoint din sa coaches yun kapag ka ganun,” he added.


 


The Morayta-based spikers committed a total of 36 errors in the contest compared to the Generals’ 25.


 


After failing to finish the game off in the third frame, FEU got its act together in the fourth set after Jelord Talisayan and Dryx Saavedra hammered down back-to-back hits that spread a 21-20 lead to a 23-20 advantage.


 


Jester Bornel fired a cross-court hit to trim the lead to two but Saavedra and Talisayan came through once more, delivering cross-court attacks of their own to finally end the match after an hour and 54 minutes.


 


“Siguro ano, kailangan lang ‘wag matanggal yung killer instinct kasi minsan puntos na, nagiging error pa eh. Yun lang talaga ang dapat maano sa isip ng mga players and also kailangan mabigyan din ng focus yung pag-lessen ng errors,” added Orcullo.


 


Martin Bugaoan took charge for the Tamaraws with game-high 16 points on 13 attacks and three blocks while Saavedra finished with 16 points as well on 15 attacks and one block.


 


Jomel Codilla chipped in 14 markers while Talisayan, who played limited minutes in the contest, ended up with five points.


 


On the other hand, no player from EAC reached double digits in scoring with Marvin Romero and Juvie Mangaring scoring eight and seven points, respectively, as the Generals slid to 1-2.


 


FEU will look to secure its spot in the quarterfinals against Alpha Omega on November 24, 5:00 p.m. while EAC will face off versus Savouge-RTU Basilan on Sunday, 1:00 p.m. at the same venue.