THE ATENEO Blue Eagles conceded to the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons after a disappointing four-set match, 25-23, 19-25, 15-25, 12-25, on May 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena (MOA) in Pasay City.
The loss puts the Blue Eagles at 0-3 in the elimination round standings of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 84 Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Blue Eagle standout Faith Nisperos started the offense for Ateneo in the first set with her down-the-line attacks resulting in a 3-0 run, 8-7. After the first technical timeout, Adamson’s Genesis responded with her own 3-0 rally through her perfectly executed cross-court kills, 8-11.
The Blue Eagles finally were able to catch up to their opponents’ score as Vanie Gandler took advantage of the free ball for a powerful spike, 19-19. Ateneo began pulling away from AdU when Lyann De Guzman scored a point off the hands of the AdU blockers, followed by dominant attacks from Nisperos and Gandler to seal the first set, 25-23.
In the second set, Ateneo was plagued by unforced errors that caused an early 5-0 run in favor of the Lady Falcons, 6-4. Poor reception and contested sets from veteran Jaja Maraguinot for the wing spikers continued to be the problem for Ateneo. The Blue and White only began finding their offensive stride when Gandler converted her drop ball targeting the sideline, 10-14.
Miner’s transition play from a regalo sparked Ateneo to life as they trailed Adamson by two, 14-16. Both teams were exchanging points in the latter part of the set courtesy of their outside hitters, but attack errors from the Blue Eagles gave AdU the opportunity to take a commanding 2-0 set lead worth 19-25.
While the Blue Eagles attempted to take the momentum away from Adamson early in the third set with Narit’s opener drop and a more aggressive Gandler, Adamson’s Nuique refuted the 0ne-point advantage and immediately tied the game at 3-3. From that point, the Lady Falcons had taken the lead and increased it to seven points, 11-18—after multiple attack errors from both Nisperos and Gandler whose kills either went long or got checked at the net. Unable to overcome these mistake patterns, the Blue Eagles awarded Adamson a huge 15-25 win.
Coming into the fourth set with a comfortable 1-2 lead, the Lady Falcons took advantage of the Blue Eagles’ stagnant offense to sink them deep by eight points, 4-12. Ateneo continued to make unforced errors and struggled offensively—only scoring from Adamson’s own miscalculations. With nothing to signal the Blue Eagles’ recovery, rookie Pia Ildefonso handed the Lady Falcons their first win of the season with an error from the service line, 12-25.
Nisperos and Gandler once again showed up for the Blue Eagles with 16 and 11 points, respectively. However, their equally numerous errors took away this scoring advantage, rendering them unable to topple their opponent.
The Blue Eagles will attempt to snatch their first win in their next game against the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws on Thursday, May 12, 12:00 PM at the MOA Arena.
Set Scores:
Ateneo-AdU: 25-23, 19-25, 15-25, 12-25
Box Scores:
Ateneo: Nisperos – 16, Gandler – 11, Narit – 6, Miner – 5, De Guzman – 3, Fujimoto – 1, Ildefonso – 1
AdU: Genesis – 17, Nuique – 15, Almonte – 12, Toring – 11, Romero – 2, Santiago – 2, Cruz – 1
