THE ATENEO Lady Eagles were defeated by University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses, 25-20, 20-25, 16-25, 25-17, 14-16, on Sunday, October 6 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City. This loss puts the Lady Eagles in the battle for third with the De La Salle College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB) Lady Blazers in the 2019 Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference.
Coach Oliver Almadro fielded Jaja Maraguinot, Jules Samonte, Jaycel Delos Reyes, Erika Raagas, Vanie Gandler, Faith Nisperos, and Dani Ravena as his starters. Roma Mae Doromal came in to support the floor defense as receiving libero while Ponggay Gaston and Jaon Narit saw some minutes off the bench as well.
Nisperos scored 23 massive points for the Lady Eagles while Samonte and Gandler were important factors at the net, contributing a combined five blocks to the team-total of eight.
The first set began with a powerful spike from Nisperos that went straight to UST’s zone 5, 1-0. Both teams pulled together their own markers until unforced errors began to incapacitate the Golden Tigresses’ defense. The Blue and White then went on a 4-0 scoring run to enter the second technical timeout (TTO), 16-9. With momentum on their side, the Lady Eagles soared to the end of the first set with the help of a miscommunication from the Golden Tigresses, 25-20.
Ateneo and UST kept pace with one another throughout the second set until the España-based squad took over at the second TTO courtesy of a quick kill from Imee Hernandez, 13-16. With a net touch violation called on the Blue and White, the Golden Tigresses took the second set, 20-25.
Errors continued to damage the Lady Eagles’ chances of scoring in the third set. The Golden Tigresses punished the Ateneo defense with a whopping 9-0 run. Three points of UST’s nine-point run came from unforced errors from the Blue and White, 15-7. With another net violation called on Ateneo, Coach Almadro decided to call for time, 12-20. A late ace from Nisperos garnered Ateneo’s last point of the set, 16-23. However, the Lady Eagle’s late wake up call was not enough as Hernandez’s drop ball ended the third set, 16-25.
Not to be outdone, the Lady Eagles charged into the fourth set with three consecutive points, 3-0. Nisperos exploded with four consecutive points as she fired her spikes from all sides of the net, 18-11. Ateneo continued to capitalize of UST’s faulty floor defense as Gaston scored back-to-back points—one from the cross court and one kill through the block, 22-15. Nisperos finished the set with another powerful cross court kill, 25-19.
The Golden Tigresses opened the final set with bombs down the line and across the court, 0-2. However, the Lady Eagles fought back with their own back-to-back points to tie the match two-all. With the scores tied, the deciding set began a back-and-forth scoring affair between the two squads. A crucial attack error on the side of the Black and Yellow caused their team to call for time to re-group, 10-10. Fresh from the timeout, the Golden Tigresses pounced on the Lady Eagles with three consecutive points: One off an error by Ateneo, another from an offensive block, and the last an ace by Agatha Mangulabnan, 11-13.
Coach Almadro decided to call his last time out, enough to stop the bleeding for Ateneo after a net touch violation was called on UST, 12-13. Golden Tigress Ej Laure broke down Ateneo’s wall to get UST to match point, but a costly net touch violation from her team forced a deuce, 14-14. Gaston’s attack went long and knocked the Lady Eagle’s out of contention for a spot in the finals, 14-16.
The loss eliminated the Lady Eagles from finals contention as they settle for a best-of-three battle for third with the DLS-CSB Lady Blazers. Game 1 will be on Wednesday, October 9, 9:00 AM, at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
