Packing her lean hands with power, Manalo spewed 26 hits, including 23 kills, while drawing solid backup from Rachel Anne Daquis, Ma. Josephine Cafranca and Wendy Ann Semana. Daquis had 14 points while Cafranca and Semana tossed in 10 points apiece for the Lady Tams, who dropped their opening game to the Lyceum side, 24-26, 23-25, 25-16, 19-25, last week.
FEU coach Kit Santos, however, was far from satisfied.
"This is not yet our game, we still have a lot of things to show and we’re just happy we won," said Santos, whose wards yielded the second set in the face of UE’s solid game anchored on Suzanne Roces.
But Manalo, now FEU’s skipper, stepped up for the Lady Tams in the last two sets to key the victory in the event backed by Accel, Mikasa and ABC-5.
"She’s just amazing," said Santos referring to the 22-year-old Manalo. — Joey Villar