FEU spikers smother Maroons

MANILA, Philippines – Far Eastern U proved too tough for a debuting Univ. of the Phils. side as it cruised to a 25-19, 25-15, 25-14 romp to join Adamson and Univ. of Santo Tomas in the early lead in the 2009 Shakey’s V-League first conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Tams, runners-up in the last UAAP season, pounced on the Lady Maroons’ poor reception and relied on guest player Tina Salek’s near-flawless setting to dominate their rivals en route to the straight-set victory in 1:05.

A mainstay of the national team, Salak put up 23 excellent sets for FEU, which drew 12 hits from veteran Rachel Daquis and 11 each from Shaira Gonzalez and Maica Morada.

“The team still lacks in cohesion as some of my players are still trying to adjust with Tina, who only had a couple of practice games with us due to her commitments with the RP team,” said FEU coach Nes Pamilar.

The Lady Maroons hardly showed any jitters in their first game in the league, sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision, as they held their own against the Tams and trailed by just one, 17-18, on Southlyn Ramos’ service ace.

But Gonzalez struck with back-to-back hits and the Tams controlled the set from there, used an 11-1 start in the next frame capped by Mayette Carolino’s attack before reasserting their superiority in the third to complete the sweep in the league backed by Accel, Mikasa and OraCare Mouthrinse.

Salak also added eight kills, including three service winners, while Carolina wound up with five hits for the Lady Tams.

No Maroon churned out double-digit scores with Ramos topscoring with just eight hits, including four service aces. Guest players Rubie de Leon and Danielle Castaneda struggled with six and three hits, respectively, while Rebecca Montero had five points.

Meanwhile, the FEU-UP duel will be aired today on NBN-4 starting at 2 p.m. while the Ateneo-Lyceum encounter, still playing at presstime, will be telecast tomorrow.

For updates and results, visit the tournament website at www.v-league.ph.