FEU sweeps first round of UAAP men's volleyball

c/o UAAP Media Team

UAAP Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Standings

Team W-L

FEU 7-0

NU 5-1

UST 4-2

Ateneo 4-3

DLSU 4-3

AdU 1-5

UP 1-5

UE 0-7

Games Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

9 a.m. - NU vs UST (Men)

11 a.m. - Adamson vs UP (Men)

1 p.m. - Adamson vs UP (Women)

5 p.m. - NU vs UST (Women)

Mikko Espartero launched Far Eastern University to seventh heaven, downing De La Salle University, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 to complete the first round sweep of the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.

Espartero, playing in his first year, put the Tamaraws way ahead in the fourth set, going on a personal 6-0 run to turn a 11-10 lead to a 17-10 gap. In that blitz, four of those were service aces, allowing them to pull away and fulfill the sweep in one hour and 59 minutes.

This victory pushed FEU to 7-0 and also stopped the three-game winning streak of La Salle, dropping them to 4-3 at joint-fourth with Ateneo de Manila University.

The Tamaraws' "gold is the goal" mantra has served as an inspiration for the Season 86 third placers.

“Wala lang titigil dapat sa ginagawa namin. Kung ano ‘yung nasimulan namin, hanggang dulo masustain namin ‘yung gusto naming mangyari sa second round,” said FEU head coach Eddieson Orcullo on what’s key to keeping this unbeaten record.

("No one should stop what we're doing. Whatever we started, we need to sustain it until the end to achieve what we want in the second round.”)

Espartero finished with 27 points on 21-of-41 spikes, five aces, and a block along with seven excellent receptions.

The Tamaraws broke their one set apiece deadlock with a stirring comeback in the third frame, scoring the final four points capped off by a Jelord Talisayan heavy hit off a floating ball as the Green Spikers failed to receive perfectly the serve of Espartero, 25-22.

“Mahalaga ‘yung healthy pause at dahan-dahan na huminga, kumalma, at huwag magpadala sa pressure. ‘Yun ‘yung nakita ko nung first set kaya nagkastruggle,” said Espartero on what sparked the change of momentum after the opening period.

("A healthy pause is important—taking a moment to breathe, stay calm, and not give in to pressure. That’s what I noticed in the first set, which is why we struggled.”)

Dryx Saavedra chipped in 17 points, while Lirick Mendoza had 13 points on 10 attacks and three blocks.

Rookie Vennie Ceballos also continued his stellar display for FEU with 13 receptions and 12 digs.

The spiking department ended up to be the decisive category where the Tamaraws took advantage the most, 60-51, while the blocking and service departments negate each other, 9-9 and 5-4, respectively.

Noel Kampton led the Green Spikers with 18 points, while Rui Ventura added 15 points.