THE LADY Eagles returned to their winning ways as they claimed a twice-to-beat advantage heading into the Final Four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 Women’s Volleyball Tournament after defeating the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons in straight sets, 25-16, 28-26, 25-17, on Wednesday, April 24 at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Kat Tolentino was named best scorer as she tallied a total of 17 points comprised of 12 attacks and five blocks. Maddie Madayag helped Ateneo’s cause with 13 points, while Ponggay Gaston and Kim Gequillana contributed 21 and 20 excellent digs, respectively. Bernadette Flora and Chiara Permentilla led the Lady Falcons with nine points each.

After finishing with zero blocks in their last game against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers, the Lady Eagles got back on track in the block category as they finished the game with 11 rejections.

The Lady Eagles starting lineup featured their regular starters: Bea De Leon, Madayag, Gaston, Jules Samonte, Tolentino, Deanna Wong, and Gequillana at libero. Janel Maraguinot, Vanie Gandler, Erika Raagas, Candice Gequillana, and reserve libero Dani Ravena also saw time on the court.

The Lady Eagles took an early 3-1 lead to begin the first set, but the Lady Falcons did not let-up as they responded with a 5-2 run to take the lead, 5-6. Ateneo quickly returned to the driver’s seat as Tolentino capped off their 3-0 run with a tip-in heading into the first technical timeout (TTO) of the match, 8-6. The Lady Eagles stayed on the attack, sparking a 6-3 run to extend their lead to five, 14-9. AdU did not find an answer as the Blue and White continued to trample them en route to set point, 24-16. A net violation called on the Lady Falcons handed the opening set to the Lady Eagles, 25-16.

 It was almost the same story in the second set, as the Katipunan-based squad snagged an early 5-0 lead right off the bat. The Lady Falcons, however, were unfazed as they responded with a 5-1 run to keep things close, 6-5. AdU continued to step on the gas as they briefly took the lead into the first TTO, 6-8, before the Lady Eagles asserted their dominance with an astounding 8-2 run to take a commanding 14-10 advantage.

Every time the Lady Eagles attempted to run away with the lead, the San Marcelino-based squad had an answer. An off the block kill from AdU’s Flora sparked a remarkable 9-3 run for the Lady Falcons as they grabbed the lead from the Blue and White entering the latter half of the set, 17-19. Gaston stopped the bleeding for the Lady Eagles with an off the block kill, 18-19. The Lady Falcons were simply relentless as Coach Oliver Almadro was forced to call a timeout with the score at 19-21.

The timeout helped Ateneo get back on track as Madayag’s running spike ignited a 4-0 run to reclaim the lead, 23-21. After several set points, both teams were at a deadlock, 26-26. Gaston’s off the block kill ultimately broke the tie, 27-26, before her tip-in secured a 2-0 set lead, 28-26.  

This time around, it was the Lady Falcons who began the set strong as they grabbed hold of a 3-6 lead early on. As the Blue and White looked to sweep the opponents, they launched a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead into the first TTO, 8-6. AdU continued to bother the Lady Eagles as they stayed within arm’s reach at 14-13. However, the top-seeded Ateneo never looked back as they went on a 6-2 run to extend their lead to five, 20-15. AdU was able to put up a couple of more points to stay in the game, 21-17 until Tolentino’s 4-0 scoring finished off the Lady Falcons in straight sets, 25-17.

Team Captain Bea de Leon had this to say after securing the twice to beat advantage heading into the Final Four: “Syempre malaking advantage ‘yun, coming into the Final Four, ‘yun talaga ang habol namin, but there’s a lot to work on,” she says. “Focus kami now on the last game, next time na yung semis kasi may isa pa kaming trabaho na kailangan tapusin,” she adds.

(Of course it’s a big advantage, coming into the Final Four, that’s what we were really trying to chase but there’s a lot to work on. We’re focused now on the last game, [we’ll think about the] semis next time because we still have one more job that needs to be done.)

The Lady Eagles will look to finish the elimination round on a high note as they face the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors this Sunday, April 28, at 2:00 PM at the same venue.

SET SCORES: 25-16, 28-26, 25-17

BOX SCORE:

ATENEO: Tolentino – 17 , Madayag – 13, Gaston – 9, Samonte – 7, De Leon – 6 , Raagas – 4, Wong – 2, Gandler – 1, Maraguinot – 1

AdU: Flora – 9, Permentilla – 9, Dacoron – 4, Macaslang -4, Igao -4, Perez – 3, Genesis – 2, Soyud -2, Ave -2, Infante – 1