THE ATENEO Lady Eagles edged out the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, in 4 sets, by scores of 25-22, 25-10, 16-25, and 26-24 on Sunday, April 23 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Today’s win over the Lady Tamaraws catapults the Blue and White to their sixth University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Women’s Volleyball finals appearance, where they will face archrivals De La Salle University Lady Spikers.
The first set opened with both teams seemingly testing the water, as violations and errors racked up points for both sides. However, a drop from Team Captain Jia Morado followed by another drop from veteran Bea de Leon would soon see the Lady Eagles enter the first technical timeout leading by four (8-4). Exiting the first technical timeout, Maraguinot would soon spring to life, as FEU failed to receive consecutive attacks from the Ateneo spiker. Eventually, a ferocious straight attack from Maraguinot would claim the first set for the Lady Eagles at 25-22.
The second set then saw complete dominance from the Lady Eagles as attacks from Michelle Morente and Bea de Leon saw the Lady Eagles lead the Tams by 9 at the second technical timeout (16-9). Eventually, a clever drop from Team Captain Jia Morado would claim the second set for the Lady Eagles at a one-sided score of 25-10.
The third set then saw a much tighter contest between the two teams, as an ace from FEU’s Mary Joy Palma tied the set at 10-all and sparking the Lady Tamaraws’ efforts to get even. Eventually, four touches from the Lady Eagles would soon see the Lady Tamaraws break the stalemate and lead the Blue and White by two at the second technical timeout (16-14). MVP candidate Bernadeth Pons would soon lead the FEU team to garner the third set at 25-16.
After conceding the third set, the Lady Eagles displayed much more ferocity and aggressiveness in the fourth set, as the Blue and White found themselves leading FEU again by four at the second technical timeout (16-12). However, back-to-back points from Bernadeth Pons allowed FEU to drew level with Ateneo (20-all). The game then transformed into a back-and-forth affair, as both teams scored alternately to cause a stalemate. However, back-to-back errors by the Lady Tamaraws surrendered their finals dreams, as the match ended at 26-24 in favor of the Lady Eagles.
Michelle Morente led the Lady Eagles with 16 points in offensive contributions. Veteran Jhoana Maraguinot showed no signs of rust upon her return to action by scoring 14 points to serve as the team’s second leading scorer. First time starting libero Deanna Wong put in an excellent showing for the Lady Eagles with 20 excellent digs, and making half of the team’s 22 excellent receptions.
After the match, Team Captain Jia Morado spoke about the feeling of a 6th consecutive finals appearance: “Sobrang sarap yung feeling; sa last ten minutes ng game, pinaghirapan talaga natin yun. Pero sa end, worth it ang lahat ng mga sacrifices namin. (The feeling is great; in the last ten minutes, we worked really hard. At the end, all out sacrifices were worth it.)”
The Lady Eagles will go head-to-head against bitter archrivals and defending champions, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers, in game one of the finals round at 4PM on Saturday, April 29, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Box Scores:
Ateneo: Morente- 16, Maraguinot- 14, de Leon- 12, Gopico- 5, Morado- 5, Gequillana- 1
FEU: Pons- 14, Palma- 12, Villareal- 9, Guino-o- 7, Basas- 5, Cayuna- 2, Hernandez- 1
