THE ATENEO Lady Eagles were overcome by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses in four sets, 26-24, 18-25, 17-25, 17-25, in the second game of their best-of-three semi-finals series in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Collegiate Conference on Wednesday, October 2, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Ravena was once again a shining light for Ateneo’s defense, as she recorded a double-double of 22 excellent digs and 10 excellent receives. The Lady Eagles’ offense, on the other hand, struggled mightily with a 27.71% spike success rate, and top scorer Faith Nisperos was kept to 11/48 spikes. Sloppiness was another major issue, conceding 38 points to UST on errors alone.
The Lady Eagles found success early in the first set, earning an 8-6 advantage by the first technical timeout (TTO), but attack errors let UST back into the game, 13-13. Both teams traded points until the closing minutes of the first set, when an error from Jules Samonte gifted some breathing room to UST, 21-23. The Lady Eagles quickly bounced back with a 5-0 run thanks to multiple kills off the block and a service ace by Maraguinot to take the set, 26-24.
In the second set, the Lady Eagles struggled to defend UST’s quick play and entered the first TTO with a deficit, 6-8. The Blue and White were able to take the lead for a short time, but further attack and service errors kept them in the hole at the second TTO, 12-16. At set point, Gandler’s attack went wide of the line, giving UST the set, 18-25.
Nisperos’ offensive woes in the third set kept the Lady Eagles from building momentum. The Golden Tigresses contained their attacks efficiently with well-timed blocks which built them an 8-2 advantage at the first TTO. More attack errors and blocks on Nisperos saw the deficit grow even further at the second TTO, 8-16. With UST about to gain the set point advantage, Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro passionately protested a no-call on a possible four-touches violation. Almadro called a timeout to voice his concerns to the referees, but he was eventually shown a yellow card. An attack error by Erika Raagas surrendered set point, 17-25.
UST’s Eya and EJ Laure carried the UST offense in the fourth set. Ateneo found themselves down at the first TTO, 5-8, but a combination play finished by Raagas tied up the score, 10-10. Multiple attack errors put Ateneo in a five-point hole, 15-20, and the Blue and White could not claw back the match at that point. A block on Nisperos eventually ended the set and the match, 17-25.
The Lady Eagles will put their hopes for the finals on the line against UST in Game Three of the semi-finals at 11:00 AM on Sunday, October 6, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Set Scores:
Ateneo-UST: 26-24, 18-25, 17-25, 17-25
