AGAINST THE reigning Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Reinforced Conference champions, the Ateneo-Motolite Lady Eagles struggled against the Creamline Cool Smashers (CCS) in a straight-set loss, 17-25, 10-25, 15-25, in the first game of the PVL Open Conference Finals on Wednesday, December 5, at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
Lady Eagles Head Coach Oliver Almadro fielded his usual starting lineup consisting of Bea De Leon, Maddie Madayag, Ponggay Gaston, Vanie Gandler, Kat Tolentino, Deanna Wong, and Kim Gequillana at libero. Dani Ravena alternated with Gequillana for most of the match, while rookie Sam Fanger was utilized in the second set. Jules Samonte checked in at the first set before starting the third set alongside second setter Jaja Maraguinot.
Despite getting one less attack attempt than their opponents, the Lady Eagles only scored on 25.9% of their 85 attacks. In contrast, the Cool Smashers were spiking at a success rate of 46.5%, with former Queen Eagle Alyssa Valdez scoring 14 points and former De La Salle University superstar Michele Gumabao notching 12. As a team, Creamline tallied 11 points from the service line with Valdez racking up seven aces. This bombardment from the service line meant the Lady Eagles had a reception rate of 30.8% in contrast to Creamline’s 57%.
Valdez got the Cool Smashers on the board as she scored two of the first three points of the match, 0-3, until Gandler stopped the bleeding with a down-the-line spike, 1-3. She sent her service long, however, as Creamline entered the first technical time-out (TTO) up 5-8. The Lady Eagles were able to tie the game at 11-all after Sato’s serve veered out of bounds.
However, this was not enough to secure a lead against the Cool Smashers as Soriano brought Creamline to the second TTO with a quick kill from the middle, 12-16. The first set was brought to an end after Gaston sent her service wide, 17-25.
The second set started with another point from Valdez as she hit it off the hands of Tolentino before a running spike from Madayag failed to get past the wall of the much shorter Galanza, giving the Cool Smashers a four-point advantage over the Lady Eagles going into the set’s first TTO, 4-8. Another service error from Ateneo propelled the Cool Smashers into the second TTO, 9-16.
The squad composed of the Lady Eagles of yesteryear continued to punish the current crop of Atenean youngsters as the former’s lead ballooned to 9-24. While Gandler saved a set point with a kill block, Jia Morado connected with Gumabao, whose cross-court spike sealed a dominating second set, 10-25.
Despite a couple of service aces to start the set, the Cool Smashers still continued to dominate the match as they held a five-point lead by the second TTO, 11-16. A service ace by Valdez to cap off a 3-0 run forced Ateneo-Motolite to call time, 12-19. The game ended with a 5-2 run by the Cool Smashers, with the last point being conceded by De Leon due to a net touch violation, 15-25.
Almadro’s words during the timeout prompted by a Valdez ace summarized Ateneo’s main issue in the match—reception. The Lady Eagles were struggling with Creamline’s serving and the veteran mentor instructed his team to go back to the basics and play with less hesitation. “You don’t need to be perfect, just try to be good,” he said.
Despite only securing one kill block, the Lady Eagles can look positively at the defense after having successfully touched a total of 37 of Creamline’s spikes. Even former Lady Eagle Alyssa Valdez commended her alma mater after the game, saying, “Ateneo is very tall [and] very good at blocking.”
Ateneo-Motolite now trails the Cool Smashers, 0-1, in the best-of-three finals series, with the second game scheduled for Saturday, December 8 at 4:00 PM at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Set Scores (Ateneo-CCS): 17-25, 10-25, 15-25
Box Scores:
Ateneo: De Leon – 7, Tolentino – 6, Madayag – 6, Gandler – 3, Gaston – 2, Wong – 7, Samonte – 1
CCS: Valdez – 14, Gumabao – 12, Galanza – 9, Sato – 8, Soriano – 7, Morado– 6
