THE ATENEO Lady Eagles opened their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 campaign with a loss against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws in five sets, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 9-15 on Sunday, February 4, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The opening day result sees the Katipunan-based squad move to a 0-1 win-loss standing in the UAAP Women’s Volleyball tournament.

Bernadeth Pons and Toni Rose Basas led the way as joint top scorers for FEU, garnering 14 markers each. Maraguinot served as Ateneo’s top offensive threat by contributing 21 points and 19 of the team’s 42 won points. Following her was Kat Tolentino with a contribution of 14 points including 12 of the team’s 42 won points.

To start off the match, Ateneo Head Coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit deployed a starting lineup of Team Captain Maddie Madayag, Bea de Leon, Kat Tolentino, Jules Samonte, Jhoana Maraguinot, Deanna Wong, and Ria Lo slotting in as the libero.

In the first set, the Lady Eagles raced to an early 3-0 scoring run after Maraguinot’s hit drew first blood for the team. Eventually, a misplaced spike from FEU’s Celine Domingo saw the Lady Eagles enter the first technical timeout (TTO), leading with 8-4. A 5-0 scoring run from the Lady Tamaraws eventually saw the Blue and White side enter the second TTO trailing by a point (15-16). FEU’s efforts, however, proved to be inadequate as a net error eventually saw the Lady Eagles take the set at 25-19.

The second set saw a similar tale as the Lady Eagles took eight out of the first 10 rallies to enter the first TTO, leading by six (8-2). Another 5-0 scoring run from the Lady Tamaraws eventually saw FEU gain the upper hand as they entered the second TTO with a two-point cushion (1-16). Ateneo rookie Sydney Eleazar then marked her UAAP with a service ace to take back the lead (18-17). The Lady Eagles, however, dropped the set (21-25) through a Basas kill.

Ateneo opened the third set in strikingly similar fashion to the previous ones as they bamboozled FEU to gain a six-point advantage early on in the set (7-1). However, FEU fired back with a 6-0 scoring run to enter the first TTO with Ateneo’s lead cut down to just one (8-7). Exiting the technical, the Lady Eagles eventually rallied on numerous attacks from both Maraguinot and Tolentino to claim the set, 25-18.

Unlike the previous sets, the fourth set saw both teams engaged in a tightly contested affair with the Lady Eagles entering the second technical, trailing at 14-16. Eventually, an Ateneo net error saw the Lady Tamaraws claim the set at 25-20.

In the final set, the Lady Eagles looked to quickly close out the game as they raced to an early 6-1 lead. However, FEU soon ignited a five-point scoring run to cut the deficit to just one, entering into the break (8-7). FEU then went into overdrive scoring eight consecutive points to claim the set at 15-9, and finish the match that featured 20 FEU service aces compared to Ateneo’s eight.

The Lady Eagles will go against the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs for their second game of the season at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, February 7, at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

Set Scores

Ateneo-FEU: 25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 9-15

Box Scores

Ateneo: Maraguinot – 21, Tolentino – 14, Samonte – 9, de Leon – 8, Wong – 4, Madayag – 4, Eleazar – 1

FEU: Pons – 14, Basas- 14, Domingo – 10, Cayuna – 9, Villareal – 6, Guino-o – 5, Malabanan – 3, Hernandez – 1