FRESH FROM a herculean effort that eliminated second seed National University Lady Bulldogs, the Ateneo Lady Spikers continued to overcome the odds in their post-season run.
Coach Tai Bundit’s troops snapped the historic 30-game win streak of three-time defending champions De La Salle University (DLSU) in the first game of the women’s volleyball Finals series. Ateneo won in four sets, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13 and 25-20 on Wednesday, March 6, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Entering the match, La Salle boasted a thrice-to-beat advantage due to their sweep of the elimination round. With Ateneo’s victory, the championship series boils down to a best-of-three affair that will crown the first squad to reach two wins as champions.
The outcome of the match seemed unexpected given how the Lady Archers kicked off the game. La Salle opened the afternoon with what seemed to be a statement as they piled up an immediate 8-1 lead. They tallied a double digit advantage at 13-3 and pulled away with the score of 25-17. It was already evident in the first set that Morente had the hot hand for Ateneo, but her effort was still overpowered by Ara Galang, Aby Marano and Mika Reyes’ offensive onslaught.
The first set seemed to have debunked the notion that La Salle was playing plagued with rust. But the succeeding order of events proved otherwise as Ateneo prevailed in three straight sets against the Lady Archers: A feat seemingly unimaginable to achieve given La Salle’s last loss happened all the way back on December 2, 2012.
The second set was an early 8-4 start from La Salle, but was answered back quickly by the Lady Spikers. Ateneo managed to grab a 16-14 lead by the second technical timeout due to consecutive service aces from Ahomiro. Additionally, Morente and Valdez launched from every conceivable angle as they relentlessly attacked the La Salle blockers.
Ateneo cushioned a 22-20 advantage prior to mental mishaps and an unforced error that tied the set at a 22-all deadlock. The Katipunan-based squad then relied on their top-scorer Valdez for a cleanly-hit cross-court attack followed by an Ahomiro service ace to position them at set point. The set then concluded at 25-23 with a botched Reyes attack that gave Ateneo their first set-win against La Salle in Season 76.
The third set came as an even bigger surprise as Ateneo at one point held a 21-10 buffer. Ella de Jesus sparked the offense for the Lady Spikers in this set as she not only thrived offensively but defensively as well. Her back-to-back service aces triggered as much crowd pandemonium as the consecutive well-timed blocks she executed. Ateneo eventually secured the third set with a twelve-point differential, 25-13, to go ahead 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set seemed to be another Ateneo surprise as the Lady Spikers at one point secured a 19-11 advantage. La Salle’s experience, however, retaliated quickly with Cyd Demecillo’s constant attacks startling Ateneo’s defense.
Reyes also provided a multitude of points for La Salle with her craftiness to operate from the front-line. La Salle was already within two at 20-22 before their short burst of momentum halted abruptly as Demecillo lined up an attack error.
Ahomiro capitalized on the situation and followed up with an attack that gave Ateneo match-point at 24-20. Valdez finished the match with an emphatic spike that pierced through the defenders, sealing the set at 25-20 and sending the Blue and White crowd into euphoria.
The victory mirrors the events of season 74 where La Salle swept the elimination round with a 14-0 record only to drop the opening game of the Finals to the Fab Five-led Ateneo squad. Ateneo, however, lost the next two games and the series to the Lady Archers.
The afternoon’s player of the game, rookie Michelle Morente shared after the win that their performance in the pressure-packed match can be attributed to an all-out effort by their squad. “Ginawa lang talaga namin ang lahat na makakaya namin (We just did all that we could do),” says the freshman who tallied a team-high 17 points.
Alyssa Valdez and Amy Ahomiro also contributed 16 points each while rookie Julia Morado tallied a game-high 40 excellent sets. Morado’s ball distribution led the team’s balanced attack which saw four Lady Spikers enter double-figure scoring.
Bundit, who was caught dancing on several occasions out of elation, was very pleased with the performance of his team, “I [was] dancing for [my] players. Very good.”
After the match, La Salle’s head coach Ramil de Jesus shared that the long rest affected their squad, “Iyon ‘yung hirap ng matagal na pahinga (That’s what is difficult with a long rest)” Although he said that it will not be an excuse for the Lady Archers.
He also attributed the loss to the well-balanced scoring load of Ateneo, “Marami din nag-perform para sa Ateneo katulad ni Morente. Hindi lang si Valdez. (There were a lot who performed for Ateneo like Morente. It wasn’t just Valdez),” he pointed out.
The two squads will meet again on Saturday, March 8, 4PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum for Game 2. Ateneo will attempt to extend their eight-game win streak, the longest in team history, while DLSU will look to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
Morente shared that the team plans to enter the Saturday duel with a composed mindset, “Ang inaasahan sa amin ay mag-relax lang at huwag masyadong i-pressure ang sarili. Kailangan gawin lang namin yung ginawa namin kanina. (What’s expected from us is to relax and not pressure ourselves too much. We just need to do what we did earlier).”
