FEU, UP trip rivals in no-bearing volleyball games

Far Eastern University (FEU) and University of the Philippines (UP) may already be out of the Final Four picture, but they had reason to celebrate on Saturday after beating separate opponents in the UAAP women's volleyball tournament.

The Lady Tamaraws overcame National University's fight-back and beat the Lady Bulldogs, 25-16, 25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 15-8, while the Lady Maroons downed the University of the East Lady Warriors, 25-21, 25-14, 22-25, 25-18, in a pair of no-bearing matches at The Arena in San Juan City. Despite already being out of Final Four contention, both teams managed to put up a good showing. The Lady Tamaraws, who will not appear in the Final Four for the second straight year, upended the Lady Bulldogs in two hours and 12 minutes to climb to fifth place with a 4-8 slate. Maica Morada led all scorers with 25 points while Rosemarie Vargas had 19 markers for FEU. Mervic Mangui led NU with 16 points while Maricar Nepomuceno had 15 as the Lady Bulldogs slid to sixth (4-9) following their fifth straight defeat. NU was also fresh from their defeat to Adamson last Wednesday, when it was booted out of Final Four contention. Angeli Araneta had a huge effort with 25 points, 20 coming in attacks, while Carmela Lopez added 19 markers as the Lady Maroons improved their mark to 3-9 for seventh place. Jimberly Dizon tallied 18 markers for UE as the Lady Warriors dropped to the bottom of the standings with a 3-10 win-loss slate. Pacesetting La Salle (10-1), University of Santo Tomas (8-3), Ateneo (8-4) and Adamson (8-4) have already gained Final Four berths and will only battle for playoff positioning. The Tigresses face the Lady Falcons at 2 p.m. Sunday, needing a win to cement their hold of second place, before the Lady Archers take on the Lady Eagles at 4 p.m. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV