THE ATENEO Lady Spikers fall to 6-4 in the team standings after their four-set loss against the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs. The Ateneo lost to NU, 17-25, 17-25, 25-23 and 19-25 on Sunday, January 26, at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Spikers started the match with key contributions from Amy Ahomiro and Alyssa Valdez. Valdez marked a spike through the block and a service ace while Julia Morado distributed the ball to Ahomiro for a series of attacks. The Lady Spikers built a small 7-5 cushion early on.
Unfortunately for the Ateneo, Ivy Perez locked in soon after that for the Lady Bulldogs. With her efficiency on the service zone and ability to find her teammates, the Santiago sisters, for scoring opportunities, Perez propelled NU to a 16-9 advantage by the second technical timeout.
The dominance of Dindin Santiago prevailed in the late stages of the opening set as she delivered a thunderous spike that echoed throughout the arena to end the set at 25-17.
The second set saw a similar story, as Valdez and company were off to another good start. Thought the Ateneo was able to capture an 8-5 lead by the first technical timeout, NU regained enough steam to derail the Lady Spikers by the end.
Aiko Urdas, Carmina Aganon and Perez were connecting on all cylinders and turned the script around to help NU regain the lead at 10-9. The Lady Bulldogs did not look back, surging to an eight point lead at 18-10 with Dindin Santiago’s relentlessness to attack any weak balls hailed in her direction. The second set ended in the same fashion as the opening set with Dindin Santiago drilling a heavy ball against the Ateneo’s defense, 25-17.
The Ateneo remained resilient in the third set after getting a spark from Marge Tejada. The Lady Spikers maintained an 11-8 advantage and drew praise from the supportive crowd in San Juan. Lady Bulldog Perez, however, would soon take matters into her own hands with a succession of service aces and deceptively placed tips to help NU surge ahead, 20-17.
Valdez responded by increasing her intensity. The veteran scored in consecutive well-placed serves that gave the Lady Spikers a crucial 3-0 scoring run that tied the score at 20-all. Valdez then got enough support from Ahomiro to give the Ateneo a 22-20 cushion that caused absolute pandemonium across the San Juan Arena. The Ateneo prevented the three-set sweep with Ahomiro’s front-row presence and service ace that secured the set for the Ateneo, 25-23.
The Ateneo rode the momentum, entering the fourth set with Valdez scoring on block-piercing spikes. Coupled with Aerieal Patnongon’s service ace and Ahomiro’s constant denials, Valdez’s attacks pushed the Lady Spikers to an early 8-5 advantage.
The Lady Spikers suffered a minor set-back in the fourth set as libero Denden Lazaro sustained an injury that required her to sit out a couple of crucial minutes. By the time she made it back on the playing court, NU had regained the momentum. NU would go on to finish the set at 25-19 with an Aganon attack to seal the victory.
Valdez finished with a game-high 16 points. Ahomiro and Tejada contributed 15 and 9 points respectively. Julia Morado added six points as well as 13 excellent sets.
Despite the loss, the Ateneo remains in third place with a 6-4 win-loss record. However, the squad is now tightly followed by Far Eastern University (5-4), Adamson University (4-5) and University of Santo Tomas (4-6).
The Lady Spikers will look to distance themselves from the aforementioned teams when they go up against Adamson on Saturday, February 1, 4PM at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Scores:
Ateneo – Valdez 16, Ahomiro 15, Tejada 9, Morado 6, Morente 5, Patnongon 1, Tajima 1, De Jesus 1.
NU – Pablo 14, D. Santiago 13, Aganon 13, Perez 13, J. Santiago 8, Urdas 8.
