THE ATENEO Lady Eagles took off on a high note as they kickstarted their Season 77 campaign with a straight three-set victory against National University (NU), 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 on Saturday, November 22, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Last year’s veteran players are now joined by rookie Bea De Leon, who made a stunning debut in the first set. Her blocks, along with Team Captain Alyssa Valdez’s successive drills to the open zones, allowed for a four-point lead at 15-11. NU then responded through Jaja Santiago and Myla Pablo, who both delivered penetrating spikes that boosted NU’s offense. This, along with several interference errors called on Ateneo, closed in the lead at 18-15.

However, NU no longer advanced from that moment as Ateneo remained on top through the remainder of the set care of consecutive hits from Ella de Jesus. A misfire by Pablo eventually closed the set at a 25-21.

Ateneo setter Jia Morado jumpstarted the second round with back-to-back service aces and an excellent set that paved the way for a quick attack from De Leon. Ateneo’s momentum continued on until the set reached a 14-9 marker, before NU readjusted and changed the gameplay. NU’s Rizza Mandapat was put into the spotlight as she hustled to takeover the team’s unstable offense. Mandapat delivered and managed a 4-0 run that brought the game within one.

But reception errors from the Lady Bulldogs and Valdez’s service aces stopped this momentum, as the Lady Eagles gave off a 5-0 run of their own. Pablo hustled on the spiking area but was not able to garner enough points to gain the lead against Ateneo. The set ended at 25-18 after a reception error from NU.

The third and final set of the match went smooth for the Katipunan-based team. While Pablo and Mandapat provided the needed points for NU early in the set, Valdez dominated the overall playing field after scoring on power hits, blocks, service aces and drop shots. Her back-to-back service aces at the end of the round closed the set and capped off the first match of the season at 25-15.

The Lady Eagles garnered 38 points through attacks over an eight-point advantage against NU’s 30. They also tallied five off their towering blocks and 11 off their service aces, with six coming from Valdez.

Valdez also topped the team in scoring with 28 points followed up by Ella de Jesus with 10, rookie Bea De Leon with seven, Michelle Morente with four and Jia Morado with three off her service aces. Morado also delivered 36 excellent sets, while libero Denden Lazaro notched six excellent digs.

In a mix of English and Filipino, Lazaro said after the match that the team was able to work well despite having certain roster changes. “It’s a good sign that we won today because what Coach Tai [Bundit] wanted [to happen] happened. It shows that we can work together as a team.”

This win puts the Lady Eagles at 1-0 in the elimination round standings to kick off their title defense. The team will look to top this off on Wednesday, 2 PM, as they take on Adamson University at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Scores:

Ateneo: Valdez – 28, De Jesus – 10, De Leon – 7, Morente – 4, Morado – 3, Ahomiro – 2

NU: Santiago – 16, Pablo – 10, Mandapat – 6, Perez – 2, Singh – 2