THE ATENEO Lady Eagles struggled once again on the service reception in their five-set loss to the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs (19-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-12, 7-15) on Wednesday, February 7, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Blue and White fall to a win-loss record of 0-2 in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Volleyball tournament.
Jho Maraguinot led the team in scoring 16 points, while Kat Tolentino tallied 12 points, three of which were blocks, and four of which were service aces. Ponggay Gaston came off the bench and notched 10 points. Rookie Dani Ravena had nine digs and ten excellent receives while replacing Ria Lo as the main libero.
Ateneo Head Coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit started captain Maddie Madayag, Maraguinot, Deanna Wong, Bea de Leon, Tolentino, Jules Samonte, and Lo at libero for the first set. Ravena was utilized in place of Lo after the first set, with Ponggay Gaston coming off the bench in the first set and starting in all succeeding sets.
The first set began as a back-and-forth affair until a kill by Nabor sparked a 7-0 NU run that had the Lady Bulldogs leading by seven (10-17). This lead proved to be insurmountable as the Lady Eagles were unable to make a comeback. An ace by NU’s Jorelle Singh gave the Lady Bulldogs the first set (19-25).
The lead went back and forth yet again for the next set, but the Blue and White found themselves ahead by six after a 5-0 scoring run early in the set (15-9). NU then subbed in Aiko Urdas for Singh, which sparked an unprecedented 11-1 scoring run that completely erased the advantage the Lady Eagles had worked so hard to win (17-22).
NU’s Roselyn Doria scored the set point with a service ace aimed right at Lo, who had previously given up three service aces that had been targeted at her. The set score finished identical to the first set (19-25).
The Katipunan-based squad began the third set with an early run to lead by five at the first technical timeout (8-3). They eventually stretched the deficit to seven late into the set (24-17), however, NU went on to score three straight points that prompted an Ateneo timeout. Maraguinot then claimed set point with a strong spike off the block, coming off a combination play (25-20).
With the momentum on their side, the Lady Eagles led early in the set and were firmly in control before the first technical timeout (7-5). A 12-2 scoring run by the Lady Eagles filled the arena with noise as fans cheered their teams on to force a fifth set (19-7). They claimed the fourth set, forcing a do-or-die with an attack from Singh that went straight to the antennae (25-12).
The Lady Eagles had the odds bet against them, having built a poor record in their last few five-set games. Their last match in the UAAP against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws was lost in five sets while last year’s finals against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers was also lost in the same manner.
The first half of the fifth set was yet another tug-of-war, with neither team gaining footing until a service error from Madayag sailed straight to the net. An eventual 8-1 scoring run by NU ensued and was capped off by a block from captain Jaja Santiago, highlighted by three consecutive aces from setter Jasmine Nabor which gave her team the win at (7-15).
According to Assistant Coach Karlo Santos, the girls learned a lot from their first two games in the UAAP as both went to five sets. With these past two games in mind, the Lady Eagles are more aware of the room for improvement.
Despite the loss, several new personalities made an impact, with rookie Ravena emerging as a promising talent.
“I just focused on my goal [and my] role in the team,” commented Ravena post-game when asked about her performance in the first game of her UAAP career.
The next game for the Lady Eagles will be against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses on February 11, 4:00 PM, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Maraguinot – 16, Tolentino – 12, Gaston – 10, De Leon – 7, Madayag – 6, Wong – 3, Samonte – 3
NU: Santiago – 26, Nabor – 11, Sato – 8, Doria – 7, Paran – 7, Singh – 5, Urdas – 3
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