In line with the ongoing University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball tournament, this weekly series will analyze the state of the Ateneo Lady Eagles in their journey to reclaim the volleyball crown.
Recap of the week
THE LADY Eagles opened their Season 80 campaign with an incredibly tough schedule, having been booked to face the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws on Sunday, February 4 and the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs just two days after on Wednesday, February 7.
FEU was the fourth seed last season with a record of 8-6, while NU was responsible for eliminating the Lady Eagles in the inaugural season of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL). NU swept the preseason tournament and eventually took the gold to enter the UAAP as favorites for the championship.
Both games went to a thrilling five sets, with FEU winning their game thanks to their superb serves and poor reception by the Blue and White (25-19, 21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 9-15). NU looked to sweep the Lady Eagles in straight sets, but a change in liberos bolstered Ateneo’s service reception and allowed them to force a fifth and deciding set. The Lady Bulldogs eventually took the match thanks to a late run, backed up by impressive serving from their setter Jasmine Nabor (19-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-12, 7-15).
Upcoming game
The next game for Ateneo is against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tigresses who held a record of 9-5 and the third spot in the standings for Season 79. Cherry Rondina will be the biggest headache for the Blue and White as she is currently the league’s top scorer with a total of 48 points in just two games.
1. Difficulties in service reception and floor defense
Ever since the PVL, the Lady Eagles have had trouble getting a good first ball. This was incredibly prevalent in their match against FEU, where the Lady Tams scored 20 points from the service line with some of the serves even being aimed at Ria Lo, Ateneo’s primary libero at the time.
In their game against NU, Vanessa Baguiwet was absent due to her participation in the Track & Field tournament which prompted Dani Ravena’s promotion as the team’s secondary libero. As NU racked up the aces in the first two sets, the coaching staff replaced Lo with Ravena in the next two sets, which prevented NU from scoring any more aces until the fifth set.
Ateneo currently leads the league in reception faults with 29, which could be attributed to the tough schedule as FEU and NU are part of the top three in the league for serving. Digging is also a poor statistic for Ateneo as no Atenean is in the top ten for digging stats, but the count could change as the season progresses and the Lady Eagles play their lower ranked opponents.
2. Deadly attacking
Ateneo’s greatest weapon on offense so far is the duo of Jho Maraguinot and Kat Tolentino. Maraguinot leads the league in spiking with a success rate of 46.58%. Her 37 points are enough to rank her third in the league’s best scorers table. At fourth is Tolentino with 26 points, who also holds the eighth spot in the best spikers ranking.
Coming off the bench against NU, Ponggay Gaston scored ten points against the best blocking team in the UAAP. It will be interesting to see if Gaston will be coming off the bench more often after a performance against NU that indicated profound improvement in the offseason.
3. Tough schedule
The two losses can be attributed to the unfortunate scheduling for the opening games of the league, as their first two matches were against top teams that are in contention for the championship. The first game and the second game were only two days apart, which may have hindered Ateneo’s ability to properly implement any adjustments.
Baguiwet, one of Ateneo’s liberos, was absent for the game against NU as UAAP Track & Field events were held on the same day. This meant that the coaching staff had one less option on defense. Nonetheless, this worked out well for Ravena, as extra playing time for her at libero showed the league that the Lady Eagles have someone to call upon to bolster their service reception.
The next game for Ateneo will be against UST which will be another tough game as the España-based squad possesses offensive powerhouses like Rondina and Minela Alessandrini who scored 18 points against defending champions De La Salle University (DLSU).
