Far Eastern University (FEU) bucked a second-set meltdown to clip Adamson University, 25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, in the winner-take-all bronze medal match of the 2025 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Preseason Unity Cup Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Lady Tamaraws banked on their veteran starters to restore order after their second unit faltered to salvage some measure of pride in the league’s centerpiece tournament.

It was the trio of Faida Bakanke, Alyzza Devosora and Jazzlyn Elarina who did most of the damage for FEU, scoring 12 points each. Bakanke hammered all of her points from kills.

Setter Tin Ubaldo orchestrated the Lady Tamaraws’ balanced scoring, tallying 21 excellent sets that helped the Morayta-based squad punch in 48 attack points.

FEU’s second stringers, fielded in the second frame of the tournament using a unique all-to-play format, failed to sustain the momentum built by its starters to snatch the tight opening frame.

Head coach Tina Salak stuck with her experienced pieces in the next two sets to bag the Lady Tamaraws’ third straight third-place finish.

“We talked about bringing back what we did in the first set. We had to regain the momentum because our morale was low in the second. Since we have a lot of senior players, what we did was change our mentality because we can’t afford to have those kinds of sets,” said FEU winger Gerz Petallo, who posted five of her eight points in the first set.

The Lady Tamaraws had a scare in the fourth frame after the Lady Falcons closed a three-point gap to just 20-19 after a Frances Mordi kill.

Cla Loresco sparked FEU’s 3-0 counterattack with a solid kill block followed by a Bakanke hit. Adamson committed a rotational fault in the next play before Shaina Nitura stopped the Lady Falcons’ bleeding with a kill.

But the Lady Tamaraws won’t be denied a podium finish as the Lady Falcons shot themselves in the foot with back-to-back errors that ended the two-hour, nine-minute encounter.

“This was a big accomplishment for us even if it was a bronze because we defended our bronze. At least we didn’t come up empty-handed. This is big for us as we head into the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines).

FEU had a fruitful run in the competition after starting the season with the National Invitational Batangas Leg conquest.

League ambassador Nitura finished with 18 points off 13 kills, three kill blocks, and two aces to pace the Lady Falcons, who threw away 31 points off errors.

Mordi had 13 points while Lhouriz Tuddao scored eight for the National Invitationals Cebu Leg winners.