THE ATENEO Lady Eagles find themselves on top of the standings after defeating their archrivals, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers, 3-1, by set scores of 26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17 on Saturday, March 4 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Today’s win over the Season 78 defending champion sees the Lady Eagles finish the elimination round with a 6-1 win-loss record in Season 79 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball tournament.

Heart, determination, and teamwork set the tone for the Lady Eagles today as they fought hard to trump their DLSU counterparts in today’s match. In the first set, the Lady Eagles found themselves on the receiving end of an endless barrage of spikes courtesy of DLSU’s Kim Fajardo, Kim Dy, and Joy Baron. The Lady Eagles then trailed for the entirety of the first set, and was down by six at one point (8-14). However, Michelle Morente’s continuous strong play soon tied the set at 24-all. Eventually, it would be Morente who would claim the first set for her team, as she brilliantly lobbed the DLSU defense to take the first set for Ateneo, 26-24.

The second set once again saw the Lady Eagles chasing DLSU, as they entered the first technical timeout trailing by four (8-4). Exiting the timeout, DLSU ignited yet another scoring run to enter the second technical once again leading by four (16-12). Eventually, back-to-back plays followed by a block from Aduke Ogunsanya would then see DLSU lead Ateneo by five (23-18). However, Kat Tolentino would channel her inner “mamba mentality,”as she twice tied the set for Ateneo at 23-23 and 24-24 before Ateneo would eventually go on to take the second set, 26-24.

Now on the brink of defeat, DLSU showed incredible resiliency and focus as they minimized their errors while capitalizing on some of Ateneo’s own to take the third set, 25-21.

Unlike the sets that preceded it, the fourth set would prove to be different as the Lady Eagles and Lady Spikers traded point after point before Maraguinot would eventually see the Lady Eagles through the first technical timeout leading by one (8-7). However, the Blue and White would refuse to give into their Taft-based counterparts, as they then entered the second technical timeout leading by seven (16-9). Eventually, a service ace would claim the set and match for Ateneo at 25-17.

After the match, Bea de Leon spoke about Head Coach Tai Bundit’s influence on eliminating the team’s overall nervousness: “Every timeout, Coach Tai would just tell us to play happy; he told us that win or lose it’s no problem, just play our game.” De Leon also praised teammate Michelle Morente who played outstandingly with 25 points.

Box Scores:

Ateneo: Morente- 25, Tolentino- 18, de Leon- 9, Maraguinot- 5, Morado- 4, Madayag- 4, Gequillana- 1, Gopico- 1

DLSU: Dy- 15, Baron- 14, Ogunsanya – 12, Fajardo- 10, Luna- 8, Tiamzon- 5, Cheng- 5

The Ateneo Lady Eagles find themselves on top of the standings after defeating their archrivals, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers, 3-1: 26-24, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17

https://storify.com/TheGUIDONSports/uaap-season-79-women-s-volleyball-vs-dlsu