Overjoyed. Alyssa Valdez celebrates after scoring a point for Ateneo during a match against Adamson at the UE Caloocan sand courts. Photo by Abram P. Barrameda

After an early exit in UAAP Season 73, the Lady Beach Spikers have revamped their lineup in an attempt to redeem themselves from last year’s subpar performance.

Now led by the star-studded cast of Alyssa Valdez, Bea Tan and the ever-popular Fille Cainglet, who has been suiting up as a reserve, Ateneo is—for the first time in recent memory—a serious contender for the beach volleyball crown.

Ateneo opened the season by crushing NU in straight sets, 21-6, 21-10. The Lady Beach Spikers quickly followed up their dominating performance with a win over archrivals La Salle. Edging out their Taft-based adversaries in three sets, 21-19, 19-21, 15-2, they proved to be one of the league’s hungriest teams early in the season.

Continuing on their impressive third set beating of La Salle, the Ateneans maintained their hot streak by cruising past UP, 21-9, 21-13. With the win over their Katipunan neighbors and momentum clearly on their side, Valdez and Co. kept on rolling and were able to outlast Adamson 23-21, 21-17, despite a slow 1-10 first set start.

Unfortunately, the Lady Beach Spikers couldn’t keep up their unbeaten record. Their first—and so far only—loss of the season came at the hands of powerhouse UST, 18-21 and 12-21.

Their hot start to the season can be attributed mostly to the strong lineup. Composed of veteran indoor volleyball players, the Lady Beach Spikers had to adjust to the new territory of the sand pit.

“Unlike indoor volleyball, beach volleyball is a totally different thing,” said Tan. “Alyssa and I have to adjust playing from concrete ground to playing barefoot on sand. We also have to deal with the unpredictable weather—the heat of the sun, the gust of the wind and the rain.”

Even with the different changes, like venue and scoring format, the Ateneo duo has adjusted well and the experience they’ve gained is invaluable, especially for the indoor competition come second semester.

With the lineup consisting of the same team competing in the indoor leagues, this year’s squad has been battle-tested enough to deliver under pressure. This year, the maturity the team has displayed is of a whole different level.

As seen in the games versus La Salle and Adamson, the Ateneans displayed their ability to keep composure through the course of a tight match.

Ateneo outlasted La Salle in the third and deciding set by capitalizing on the opponents’ evident fatigue. “We were able to adjust and carry our momentum in the third set,” said Valdez, in reference to their conditioning and endgame resilience.

As for the game against Adamson, where they trailed 1-10 early in the first set, it was clear that the Lady Beach Spikers showed the “Never say die” attitude every athlete should possess.

“Teamwork and communication inside the court help a lot in the way we handle situations while we play. We constantly remind each other to take it one point at a time and minimize errors as much as possible,” shared Tan.

With stellar play so far, raising the golden trophy at the end of the season seems very possible for the Lady Beach Spikers.

The team continues to work and improve on its game, approaching the remaining challenges one step at a time.

According to Tan, “We’ve conditioned ourselves to offset every error we commit, savor every point we make and enjoy every game as much as possible. I guess as long as we learn to keep our focus in winning every game, then we might actually have the chance to make it to the finals.”

Eyes on the prize. Rookie Alyssa Valdez soars for the kill at the net.