COMING OFF a tight win against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, the Lady Eagles continued their winning streak with a dominant, straight-set victory over the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, 25-15, 25-21, 25-16, in Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Sunday, March 3, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Head Coach Oliver Almadro deployed the familiar squad of Deanna Wong, Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag, Bea De Leon, Ponggay Gaston, Jules Samonte, and Kim Gequillana at libero. Youngbloods Vanie Gandler, Jaja Maraguinot, and Erika Raagas also made appearances off the bench.

Once again, the veteran duo of Tolentino and Madayag were the top scorers for the Lady Eagles, with 13 and 11 points, respectively. The deadly duo tallied eight spikes and three blocks each while Tolentino came up with two service aces. Samonte guarded the floor expertly with 12 excellent receives.

Blazing through the start of the first set, the Blue and White raced to an early 9-2 run, courtesy of Samonte and Madayag’s kills. With momentum on Ateneo’s side, the set quickly went to its second technical timeout (TTO) after a swift attack from Madayag in front of a UE block, 18-7. Maintaining their groove, the Lady Eagles pushed on and took the set after the Lady Warriors failed to contain a De Leon attack, 25-15.

The in-rhythm Katipunan-based squad continued to dominate in the second set, putting up another early run, 5-1. However, after Ateneo reached double-digits, UE began to retaliate through the spikes of Judith Abil. The Red Warriors then went on a 5-1 run of their own to bring Ateneo’s comfortable lead down to just three points, 20-17. After a late exchange of points, Tolentino prevented any chance of a comeback with an expertly-taken kill, 25-21.

Unlike the last two sets, the third set started out with both teams neck-and-neck. Ateneo managed to earn points through kills but lost ground due to multiple errors, 6-6. Lady Warriors Maraguinot and Raagas came in for Wong and Tolentino in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Raagas nailed two attacks and a block to fuel a monsterous 9-2 run to put momentum back with the Lady Eagles, 20-13. Head Coach Almadro had Wong and Tolentino come back in for the two rookies while Gandler also came in for Tolentino afterwards. De Leon put the final nail on the coffin with a quick kill that blasted in between two blockers, 25-16.

In the post-game press conference, Almadro praised the team for taking on his challenge to win convincingly. “They really worked hard [in the] one week naming walang (we didn’t have any) games and they sacrificed a lot,” he said. “[Although] we have to improve on more aspects of volleyball fundamentals and volleyball mindsets. So we will not stop here and we will use this as a stepping stone for a brighter future.”

The Lady Eagles, on a 3-1 record, will look to extend their winning streak in their next game on Sunday, March 10 at 4:00 PM against the University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons in the FilOil Flying V Centre.

Set Score:

Ateneo-UE: 25-15, 25-21, 25-16

Box Scores

Ateneo: Tolentino – 13, Madayag – 11, Samonte – 8, De Leon – 8, Gaston – 6, Raagas – 3, Wong – 2

UE: Abil – 14, Mendrez – 9, Gabarda – 4, Alcayde – 3, Bending – 2, Rodriguez – 2, Olarve – 1