MANILA, Philippines – Back-to-back losses to contenders lit a fire under the FEU Lady Tamaraws.

The Lady Tamaraws returned to the winning column of the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-17 sweep of the Adamson Soaring Falcons at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday, March 9.

It was a resounding bounce-back victory for FEU after coming off a five-set heartbreaker against league leaders UST Golden Tigresses and a four-set defeat at the hands of third seed NU Lady Bulldogs.

“We were really eager to redeem ourselves from those two straight losses,” said Lady Tamaraws head coach Manolo Refugia in Filipino.

Congolese rookie Faida Bakanke paced FEU with 14 points built on 13 attacks and 1 block, while Chenie Tagaod and Gerzel Petallo added 12 points apiece.

A third-year outside hitter, Tagaod said she and the rest of the Lady Tamaraws’ veterans wanted to set a good example for their younger teammates.

True enough, Bakanke followed suit and came up with the highest scoring performance of her UAAP career as she rebounded from a meager one-point outing against NU.

“We worked hard for this. We studied how [Adamson] moved. We practiced and we executed. It turned out well,” said Tagaod in Filipino.

FEU improved to 3-3 and returned to the top four with one game left in the first round.

Ayesha Juegos finished with 10 points in the losing effort as the Lady Falcons slipped to fifth place with a 2-3 record.

No other Adamson player scored in twin digits. – Rappler.com