THE ATENEO Lady Spikers locked in a final four stint, care of a three-set sweep against the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, 25-17, 25-12 and 25-22, on Saturday, February 2 at the Fil-Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Ateneo started the match with a well-balanced effort care of Amy Ahomiro and Alyssa Valdez leading the opening stretch. Fellow starters Ella de Jesus along with Aerieal Patnongon pitched in to Ateneo’s offense as they rattled UE’s blockers with their relentless attacks from the front-row. The Lady Spikers immediately built the 8-3 advantage by the first technical time out.
Ateneo however was sidetracked with the absence of Marge Tejada, who is currently recovering from the flu. Spark plug Michelle Morente struggled as a replacement in the starting position as she lined up a multitude of errors with her attacks, constantly finding the tape of the net. Fortunately for the Lady Spikers, the Lady Warriors were unable to capitalize on Ateneo’s mishaps as UE had an abundance of service errors. The Lady Spikers notched the 16-9 lead by the second technical time out.
The Lady Warriors retaliated with Shaya Adorador and Faith Bulan resiliently hustling in long rallies resulting into well-fought UE markers. Ateneo, however, was unfazed by the Lady Warriors’ brief run, as the former abruptly regained the momentum care of Valdez’s athleticism and a cross-court winner by Kim Gequilana. Ateneo carried the 19-14 advantage and easily pulled away as Ahomiro’s service ace sealed the set at 25-17.
The second set featured a more lopsided affair as Team Captain Valdez solidified her mark as one of the league’s premier scorers. Ateneo scored 11 straight points with Valdez positioned at the service zone, five of which were tallied as service aces. Ateneo’s lead rose in an instant at 14-3.
Morente contributed to Ateneo’s scoring as she bounced back from her poor performance from the first set. With Morente and Ahomiro continuously attacking from every angle, the Lady Warriors were startled by Ateneo’s offensive outburst as the Lady Spikers peaked with a 13-point advantage at 21-8. With the frustrated Lady Warriors bewildered by the Katipunan-based squad, Ateneo finished the set at 25-11, care of Julia Morado’s set to the high-flying de Jesus’ block-piercing spike.
The Lady Warriors bounced back in the third set as they were able to keep up with Ateneo’s pace. UE managed to score off well-timed blocks and Ateneo’s miscues. The Lady Spikers’ errors gave the Lady Warriors their first lead of the game at 7-6.
The Ahomiro-Valdez tandem however gave the lead back to the girls in blue with thunderous spikes and wise off-speed kills. Ateneo maintained the 11-7 advantage but a stretch of consecutive errors returned the set at a deadlock of 11-all.
UE’s Jan Manansala, Bulan and Adorador’s effort pulled them within one at the 15-16, 21-22 and 22-23 mark. But the ferocity of Valdez’s attacks and Ateneo’s well-timed blocks were too much to handle for the winless UE squad as the Lady Spikers finished the match, 25-22.
Alyssa Valdez finished with a total of 20 points, thirteen coming from attacks and five due to her serving precision. Fellow senior Ahomiro tallied 11 points while rookie, Morente contributed 8.
The game also featured veterans Patnongon and de Jesus scoring four points each, while Gequillana came off the bench to pitch in two markers. The balanced scoring was attributed to Morado’s consistency donning the responsibility of the team’s setter. She finished with another superb effort of 31 excellent sets.
Coach Tai Bundit and the rest of the Lady Spikers reached 8-4 in the win-loss standings and are sure performers in this year’s final four. The Thailand-based coach stated after the game that their next assignment against the Tigresses is vital, saying “Wednesday [is an] important match.”
