IN THEIR second round meeting this Season 75, the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team’s spirited effort against archrivals De La Salle University Lady Spikers proved insufficient, as Team Ateneo was swept 0-3 on Saturday, February 9. With a crowd of 19,000 people attending the first UAAP volleyball match in the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the Lady Spikers fell for the second time this season to defending champs La Salle.

The match featured great effort from both teams, but La Salle’s championship defense was the deciding factor.

In the first set, La Salle’s excellent blocking of the aggressive Ateneo offense built an 8-3 lead. Despite the early deficit, Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez brought the lead down to one, 13-14. La Salle maintained composure and found various scoring opportunities from Ara Galang, Abigail Maraño and Wensh Tiu. The Lady Eagles had no answer for the La Salle offense and Michele Gumabao blocks as they dropped the first set, 25-19.

The second set took off better for the Lady Eagles, as they held on to an 11-7 lead. However, unforced errors and miscommunication on the floor helped the Lady Archers to fight back and tie the set at 14-all. From then on, the lead shifted back and forth for both teams as the game went down the wire. In the end, Ateneo’s 11 unforced errors in the set and La Salle’s impervious blocking contributed to another Ateneo loss, 23-25.

With the momentum and the crowd on their side, the Lady Archers kicked off the third set with an 8-4 start. Valdez, Ella De Jesus and Dzi Gervacio gained the lead, 13-12, but La Salle took it back and built a five-point advantage, 20-15. Ateneo responded with a 5-0 run of their own led by De Jesus to tie the game at 20-all. But once again, the defense of the defending champs halted the Ateneo advance. La Salle took the match, 25-21.

La Salle tallied 18 blocks, which limited Ateneo’s scoring leader Valdez to 10 points and frustrated Team Ateneo.

The Lady Eagles drop to a 9-4 win-loss record while the Lady Archers are safe and secure on top with a 12-1 record.

The Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team will next face the University of Santo Tomas on Sunday, February 17, at The Arena in San Juan.