THE ATENEO Lady Eagles defeated the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons in straight sets, 25-19, 25-18, and 25-13, on Sunday, February 12 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan. The win sees the Lady Eagles moving to a 3-1 win-loss record in Season 79 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball tournament.
The Lady Eagles struggled early in the first set as the team entered their first technical timeout trailing by two points (6-8). However, Ateneo would soon find their stride, managing to turn the tide and enter the second technical timeout on the leading side of a three-point deficit at (16-13). Eventually, the Lady Eagles would go on to claim the first set at (25-19) after some fine spiking from De Leon, Maraguinot, Gopico, and Morente.
The second set then saw Gopico fire the first shots of war, getting the Lady Eagles to open scoring with a ferocious downwards spike. Team Captain Jia Morado, who played while ill in last week’s match against Far Eastern University (FEU), seemed to return to peak form as she excellently facilitated the Lady Eagles’ offense with some fine setting and clever dumping, leading Ateneo to claim the second set at (25-18).
The third set saw a different line-up step onto the court as Kim Gequillana, Ponggay Gaston, Deanna Wong (Libero) entered the fray for the Blue and White. They would then go on to justify the decision of Coach Sherwin Meneses (who is filling in for Head Coach Tai Bundit), performing strongly on offense and defense to see Ateneo through the first technical timeout ahead by five (8-3). Meneses would exit the timeout continuing the squad’s rotation as rookie Jules Samonte then came on and scored twice. Jamie Lavitoria and Janelle Lo were also brought on as Ateneo took the third set at (25-13) to complete their sweep of the Lady Falcons.
Meneses took little time to praise his side’s composure after the game: “Nilaro lang natin yung game natin, pero siyempre, nagpractice talaga kami. (We just played our game, but of course, we really practiced.)”
The Ateneo Lady Eagles will square off against the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors at 2 PM on Wednesday, February 22 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
Box Scores: (25-19, (25-18), (25-13)
Ateneo: Morente- 12, De Leon- 7, Maraguinot- 7, Morado- 6, Gopico- 5, Tolentino- 5, Gequillana- 3, Madayag- 2, Gaston- 2, Samonte- 2
Adamson: Galanza- 8, Joaquin- 7, Flora- 6, Dacoron- 4, Caole- 2, Wanta- 1, Momo- 1, Uy- 1
