THE ATENEO lady beach spikers earn a double victory in their games against University of the East (UE) and University of the Philippines (UP) on Monday, October 3, 2016 at the SM Sands in Pasay City.
This sweep in their day three of University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Beach Volleyball elimination round puts the Lady Eagles in a good position heading to their final elimination game with a 4-2 record.
The tandem of Michelle Morente and Kim Gequillana showed good chemistry against the UE pair of Judith Abil and Angelica Dacaymat. Dacaymat opened the first set with an accurate spike, but with Gequillana’s attacking effort, Ateneo took the lead immediately (3-1). Although an Abil spike was able to stop 3-0 run of the Lady Eagles, errors from the UE side enable the Ateneo to take the first set (21-13). The lady beach spikers further controlled the game, drawing first blood with a 5-0 run in the set. With perfectly executed attacks by Morente and Gequillana, the pair led a 11-point gap at match point and finally took the set due a service error by Dacaymat (21-10).
Onto a tougher challenge for the Lady Eagles were Lady Maroons Arielle Estranero and Diana Carlos, who kept coming at Ateneo pair with stronger attacks than that of the UE. The three-set thriller started with the Ateneo pair dominating the first set, as their attacks managed to land on openings and an attack error by Carlos ended the set in favor of the Lady Eagles (21-16). However, the second set spelled a different story as the Lady Eagles incurred more errors, surrendering the lead to the Lady Maroons and consequently losing the second set by a wider margin (21-14). As the Lady Maroons forced a final set, both teams entered into a seesaw battle until an attack error by Carlos ended the game to seal an Ateneo win with a score of 15-12.
With archrival De La Salle facing the Lady Eagles on Friday October 7, Coach Parley Tupaz said that their mindset must be similar to how it was against UP. He said that following the game plan would be important in claiming the win and a Final Four berth. As for how they’ll prepare for the next match, Coach Tupaz wants the team to train hard in the days leading up to their showdown on Friday.
