Far Eastern University boosted itself to the No. 2 spot in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament after easily getting past University of the East, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23, on Wednesday at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

Jaz Ellarina helped the Lady Tamaraws to a 6-3 record with a career-high 17 points from 12 attacks, two blocks and three aces.

READ: UAAP: FEU repeats over UST in women’s volleyball

“That [UE fightback] was expected because UE’s spirit never wavers in games,” coach Tina Salak said. “Eventually, they make adjustments and catch up, but technically, we still got the win we wanted. However, there were also opportunities we missed during the match.”

“Since Day 1, we’ve trusted the system because coach always reminds us that if we start making our own moves outside of it, we’ll lose our way,” Ellarina said. “So we just have to bring ourselves back to what we trained for.”

Chenie Tagaod and Gerz Petallo contributed 15 points apiece. Tagaod had 14 attacks and a block apart from 11 excellent receptions while Petallo came up with 13 kills a block and an ace other than 15 excellent digs.

Faida Bakanke was quiet on the offense but made up for it in the defense with 14 excellent digs. Another Lady Tamaraw who had a quiet night was setter Tin Ubaldo but Karyll Miranda was ready to step up to the plate, providing 17 excellent sets.

READ: UAAP: FEU sheds dark horse mentality as it plays like a contender

FEU was unable to shake off UE easily in the third set before scoring three straight for a 19-17 lead. But the Lady Warriors refused to give up and still fought to give themselves a chance to extend the match.

After scoring from a drop shot, Faida Bakanke had a service error that tied the game at 23-all. Luckily, Petallo and Chen Tagaod were there to pick up the slack for the win, their second straight.

Khy Cepada came up with 13 points as well as 11 excellent digs while Van Bangayan had 10 but it was not enough to give the Lady Warriors a breakthrough win in nine games.