JUST WEEKS after their historic championship run, the Ateneo Lady Eagles immediately returned to the court for the 11th season of the Shakey’s V-League.

Ateneo opened the tournament with a four-set victory against the Adamson Lady Falcons. The jam-packed San Juan Arena that held 5,203 in attendance witnessed Alyssa Valdez tally 23 points in the Lady Eagles’ win.

The Lady Eagles also proved why they were the crowd favorites with three-set victories against the College of St. Benilde, Southwestern University and St. Louis University. They averaged a dominating 24.33 point differential in the three wins; outscoring their opponents by almost one whole set.

Their only preliminary round loss was care of the scrappy Arellano Lady Chiefs. The Lady Eagles rallied from an 11-5 deficit in the fifth set with a 7-0 run but fell short with the score of 15-13. Ateneo’s Kim Gequillana saw valuable minutes as she played in all five sets and contributed 10 points.

Despite their stellar performance in the tournament, the Lady Eagles were unable to get through both of their quarterfinal bouts. Ateneo’s 44 unforced errors plagued them in their five-set thriller against the guest team, Davao Lady Agilas. Their final match was a three-set defeat against the University of Santo Tomas’ well-balanced attack.

Regardless of the result, the Lady Eagles were able to garner enough experience for their younger players in preparation for future competitions.