THE ATENEO Lady Eagles secured their spot in the semi-finals of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Collegiate Conference after dominating the University of Perpetual Help Lady Altas in straight sets, 25-18, 25-9, 25-17, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Rookie Faith Nisperos made her return from an illness and turned in a 15-point outing, while captain Ponggay Gaston stuffed the stat sheet with eleven digs, seven spikes, three aces, and a kill block. Starting setter Jaja Maraguinot notched 22 excellent sets and four service aces. 

The Lady Eagles started out well on the offensive end, building up a four-point lead entering the first technical timeout (TTO), 8-4. The two teams traded runs until the second TTO when a kill off the block by Gandler pushed the lead to five, 16-11. The Lady Altas failed to contain Ateneo’s offense as a cross court spike by Nisperos forced them to call a timeout, 20-13. Perpetual attempted to mount a comeback, but a cross court kill by Gaston ended the long rally and the first set, 25-18.

Perpetual held their own to start the second set, limiting Ateneo to a two-point lead entering the first TTO, 8-6. The Lady Altas had a tough time with receiving and distribution errors, which allowed Ateneo to go on an 8-2 scoring run later on, 16-8. Continued bombardment from the service line prevented the Lady Altas from scoring, and Gandler’s kill took the set, 25-9

Perpetual struggled with their offense in the third set due to errors and good net defense by Ateneo. A distribution error by the Lady Altas after a long rally stretched the deficit at four entering the first TTO, 8-4. More unforced errors increased the lead for the Blue and White who led by six at the second TTO, 16-10. Perpetual grew into a groove on offense, but Gaston finished the set and the match with a kill off the block, 25-17. 

With the elimination round out of the way, the main focus will be on the semi-finals against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in a rematch between last season’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines Women’s Volleyball finalists. “The advantage of UST is that the young players they have [already have] championship experience,” commented head coach Oliver Almadro after the match. Most of Ateneo’s current lineup features players straight from high school as compared to UST’s young, but experienced squad.

The Lady Eagles will fight for a spot in the finals on September 28 at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Set Scores:

Ateneo-Perpetual: 25-18, 25-9, 25-17