Count on rookie hitter Lovely Lopez to pull out all the stops for the FEU Lady Tamaraws in the Final Four of UAAP Season 87.
First-year player Lovely Lopez showed her potential for the FEU Lady Tamaraws as they exacted revenge over La Salle in their final elimination game in UAAP Season 87, winning in four sets, 25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 25-23, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
Despite already missing out on the twice-to-beat bonus, a standout performance from Lopez was a big positive for FEU, finishing with eight points in just two sets of play.
More importantly, Lopez supplied the final point which sealed FEU’s first win over La Salle since 2020, and helping the team take a strong 9-5 record after the elimination round.
Though surrounded by more veteran hitters like Faida Bakanke, Chenie Tagaod, Gerz Petallo, Lopez was called to step up to the plate in crucial stretches, including in the fourth set — where she punctuated a 4-1 run for the victors.
[READ: FEU gains revenge on La Salle as UAAP Final Four bonus remains up for grabs]
After the match, Lopez was happy to be on the receiving end of trust from her teammates, and especially from head coach Tina Salak.
“Thankful po [ako] kasi po pinaniwalaan po ako ni coach T sa posisyon na binigay niya sa akin, nagtiwala po siya sa akin na gagawin ko yung best ko,” said Lopez.
“Siguro po… ‘di ko lang po talaga inexpect na magiging ganoon yung laro ko. Tinurukan ako ng adrenaline,” she added.
Adding to Lopez’s timely offense was her efficiency — scoring on seven attack points out of just 16 attempts in spiking.
But with the Final Four an entirely different conversation, especially as they now face the defending champions NU Lady Bulldogs with a twice-to-win disadvantage, Lopez is just happy to be able to contribute to the team.
After dragging NU to the winner-take-all Game 2 in their semis series last year, Lopez is eager to run it back and get things going in the semis.
“For me po, siguro malaking part po na makasama [ako] sa team, and makapasok sa Final Four, kasi ayun po talaga ‘yung pinagtrabahuhan namin,” she said.
“Masaya ako para sa sarili ko, kasi nakapag-contribute ako.”
The Final Four is slated to begin next month with the final standings between the 2-seed and 3-seed yet to be determined ahead of UST’s clash against NU on Sunday. However, due to inferior set ratio, FEU is now locked in to the fourth spot — regardless of the result.
Should UST lose to the defending champions, they will battle La Salle in a virtual best-of-three series where they will have a one-game playoff for the twice-to-beat bonus.