IN YET another straight-set sweep, the Ateneo Lady Eagles clinched their second consecutive championship in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), outlasting archrivals De La Salle University (DLSU), 25-22,25-17, 25-23, on Saturday, March 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Lady Eagles cemented their place in history after posting the first flawless season in UAAP Women’s Volleyball history en route to back-to-back titles over DLSU.
Ateneo is now the UAAP record holder for the longest winning streak in a single season, 16-0, topping off their previous record of 15-0 in Game 1 of the Finals series.
Before the start of the much-awaited match, awarding ceremonies were held to recognize the standouts in this season’s run. Ateneo garnered a total of six individual awards, including Most Valuable Player (MVP), Best Scorer and Best Server for Team Captain Alyssa Valdez, Best Setter for Jia Morado and Best Receiver for libero Denden Lazaro. After the match, Amy Ahomiro was awarded as the MVP of the Finals series.
Notably, this is the second year in a row that Valdez was awarded MVP and Best Server, and the third year she was hailed as the Best Scorer.
During the game, DLSU still had to make do without ace scorer and Team Captain Ara Galang as well as attacker Camille Cruz, both of whom were lost due to knee injuries.
For this, Valdez was quick to give credit to La Salle. “Lalaban ang La Salle (La Salle will fight,” she says of the Season 75 champions, “La Salle is La Salle.”
“If Ara [Galang] was there, definitely the game will be tighter because her presence and leadership is different,” the Atenean team captain stresses in a mix of English and Filipino.
Ahomiro and Valdez combined for 30 points in the game, which gave the La Salle defense a lot of trouble especially down the stretch. Ahomiro was up to her usual exploits, playing the net perfectly while Valdez was in her killer form, scoring for the Blue and White when needed. This, along with Michelle Morente’s killer plays, allowed Ateneo to cruise through the first two sets.
The third set, however, did not feature a smooth-sailing play for Ateneo. Efforts from DLSU’s Mary Joy Baron, Mika Reyes and Desiree Cheng provided DLSU the push they needed to establish an on-and-off lead in the set. They were not able to sustain it, however, for the match ended when the season’s Best Setter, Morado, rampaged on two consecutive drop balls that caught the DLSU side by surprise. At a 25-23 tally, the Lady Eagles successfully clinched the two-peat.
“I’m just speechless. We’re so honored to [have a] perfect run,” Ahomiro says of the feat her team accomplished in Season 77. “We never went to games thinking like that,” she adds about the mindset the ladies had in each of their games this season.
This historic 16-0 run of the Lady Spikers also serves as the final hurrah for the graduating players of the Blue and White: Lazaro, Aeriel Patnongon and Ella De Jesus.
When asked about how they felt about their back-to-back titles, Valdez quips in a mix of English and Filipino, “[They were] both unexpected. Last year, [there was] nothing to lose, but this year, [the] pressure was on us. We wanted to prove that we could do it. It was different this year, but overall, we’re happy that we played as a team.”
Scores:
ADMU: Valdez – 20, Ahomiro – 10, De Leon – 10, Morente – 10, Morado – 6, De Jesus – 5
DLSU: Baron – 9, Reyes – 8, Cheng – 6, Demecillo – 5, Cerveza – 4, Soyud – 4, Tiu – 2, Fajardo – 1
i believe next year will be the toughest battle for lady eagles…all the other teams are also beefing up their line ups and taking the cue from lady eagles’ ways of preparations and trainings…but definitely the heartstrong happy unity spirit will stay with the lady eagles especially for the last year of alyssa and amy who both suffered their first two playing years under the shadows of dlsu…as always i believe lady eagles will get their 3-peat championship this coming season 78…individual awards for me are just additional glamour to the team championship….God bless…!