The win marked the Lady Warriors’ third straight victory and their second five-set triumph in the last three matches, propelling them to solo second place with a 4-2 record at the close of their campaign, breaking their tie with the Lady Tams and the UP Lady Maroons heading into the final week of elimination play.
Meanwhile, University of Santo Tomas remains the only unbeaten team, leading the pre-season tournament organized by Sports Vision with a 4-0 slate.
Dongallo, returning after a five-month layoff due to a right wrist injury, demonstrated her readiness to compete at a high level, putting up a dominant performance of 29 attacks. She added a block and an ace, while also contributing eight excellent sets.
UE head coach Obet Vital praised the team’s overall performance:
“Very happy with the performance of the girls. All of them worked really hard, we used a lot of players off the bench,” said Vital.
He also gave special recognition to Dongallo, saying: “The starters did well, special shout-out to Casiey (Dongallo) for coming back strong and performing really well.”
FEU, however, fought fiercely, with Faida Bakanke’s back-to-back hits and a quick from Jazlyn Ellarina helping force a deciding fifth set.
Ellarina, the California Academy standout, finished with 18 points, while Chenie Tagaod added 16 markers for the Lady Tams, who completed their eliminations with a 3-3 record.
Despite trailing by seven points in the third set, UE went on a 9-3 run to close the gap at 21-22. A series of late errors from FEU, coupled with a decisive down-the-line hit from Khy Cepada, sealed UE’s comeback, giving them a 2-1 set lead.
“It’s a very important win for many reasons: one as you said, we broke the tie. Second part is that the win is against a UAAP team, so you’re already calibrating each other mentally, calibrating each other physically,” added Vital.
Both teams now await the outcome of the remaining women’s division elimination matches to determine their semifinal status. The Final Four will begin on Sept. 18 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
