THE ATENEO Lady Eagles defeated the National University Lady Bulldogs in straight sets, 25-15, 27-25, 25-17 on Saturday, August 20 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Eagles had a tough task ahead of them, facing an elimination match against the undefeated Lady Bulldogs who sit atop Group A in the preliminaries of the Shakey’s V-Leauge.
In today’s crucial match, Coach Tai looked to his veterans to deliver. The veteran setter Morado was preferred over her counterparts, Lavitoria and Wong, who made notable appearances in the Lady Eagles’ previous win against University of Perpetual Help. Meanwhile, in the reception department, libero Gizelle Tan made 17 excellent digs.
Lady Eagles Team Captain Michelle Morente led the Blue and White with 20 points, 15 of which came from attacks. Gequillana followed Morente’s offensive output with 12 points while de Leon and Gopico each contributed 9 points.
On the other end of the floor, the Lady Eagle defense limited Jaja Santiago’s offensive output to 11 points while de Leon and Morente combined for 4 points in the blocking department. In the errors category, the Lady Eagles took advantage of 18 Lady Bulldog errors compared to just 12 for the Katipunan-based side.
With this commanding win, the Lady Eagles are now tied with the Technological Institute of the Philippines with a 2-2 record. They will be facing each other in a playoff for a quarterfinals berth on Monday, August 22.
Box Scores:
Ateneo: Morente- 20, Gequillana- 12, de Leon- 9, Gopico- 9, Samonte- 5, Morado- 4
NU – Santiago- 11, Sato- 10, Singh- 9, Urdas- 6, Nabor- 5, Paran- 3, Doromal- 1
