THE ATENEO Lady Eagles defeated the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigresses in four sets, 25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22, in the 81st season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday, February 20, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Lady Eagles Head Coach Oliver Almadro fielded his usual starting lineup of Deanna Wong, Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag, Bea De Leon, Ponggay Gaston, Jules Samonte, and Kim Gequillana at libero. Rookies Vanie Gandler, Jaja Maraguinot, and Erika Raagas also made appearances in the match.

Tolentino was the top scorer with 22 total points to go along with her 11 digs and four blocks. Madayag was a key factor at the net as she tallied 24 total blocks (including rebounds) while scoring on six of them. The team in total recorded 12 kill blocks but also conceded 12 service aces.

It was a back-and-forth affair to start the first set, with UST pulling away with a service ace by Marie Galanza that forced an Ateneo timeout with the score at 10-14. The Blue and White slowly rallied back and an ace by Samonte aimed at Milena Alessandrini tied the score, 16-16. The two teams continued to trade points, but Alessandrini got the kill to cut the lead later on in the set, 21-20. The Lady Eagles then went on a 4-1 run, capped by De Leon’s quick to take set point, 25-21.

The Growling Tigresses pulled away early at the second set as they had a three point lead at the first technical timeout (TTO), 5-8. However, a 5-0 run later on won Ateneo the lead, with the last point coming off a block by Madayag, 12-11. Tolentino widened the deficit at the second TTO with a well targeted serve, 16-12. The Blue and White slowly pulled away, punctuated by Tolentino’s block on Sisi Rondina to end the set, 25-18.

The third started off poorly for the Lady Eagles as they conceded seven consecutive points mainly due to Alina Bicar’s the bombardment from the service line, 0-7. Kills from Eya Laure and some key errors saw the Lady Eagles down by ten at the second TTO, 6-16. There wasn’t much the Katipunan-based squad could do as an ace by Alessandrini ultimately ended the set, 16-25.

Errors by UST and heroics from Madayag offensively and defensively allowed the Lady Eagles to go up by six at the first TTO, 8-2. Madayag continued her good run of play and a quick kill from the veteran middle maintained the wide margin at the second TTO, 16-9.

Later on in the set, UST Head Coach Kung Fu Reyes protested a net touch violation called on his team. With the score at 20-17, Reyes heavily protested which stopped play for several minutes, prompting the referee to call two yellow cards on the UST mentor. Despite timely attacks by the Growling Tigresses and errors on the Ateneo side that also brought the score level, an attack error by the tired Alessandrini put an end to the match, 25-22.

After the game, Coach Almadro commented on his team’s performance in the second half of the match. “We really have to study and learn how to end it right.”

The next game for the Blue and White will be on Sunday, February 24 at 4:00 PM against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws at the same venue. They now hold a win-loss record of 1-1.

Set Score:

Ateneo-UST: 25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 25-22

Box scores:

Ateneo: Tolentino – 22, Madayag – 15, De Leon – 6, Gaston – 6, Samonte – 5, Wong – 1

UST: Rondina – 20, Laure – 12, Alessandrini – 10, Bicar – 8, Viray – 5, Galdones – 2, Balcorta – 2, Tuazon – 1, Jimenez – 1, Roldan – 1, Galanza – 1

Photo by Joshua Tan