In line with the return of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball Tournament, this weekly series will analyze the state of the Ateneo Blue Eagles as they start to defend their crown for Season 84. 

THE BLUE Eagles had mixed outcomes in their last two matches of the first elimination round, finishing the round with a 3-4 record.

The Blue and White first extended its winning streak to three after they triumphed over the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, 3-1, last May 17. However, they were unable to halt knockout scorer Eya Laure and her team, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses, losing 1-3 in the following match on May 19.

1. Learning from the best

Gap: After their convincing win against the UE Lady Warriors, the Blue Eagles encountered a thrilling four-set matchup against the UST Growling Tigresses. Among UST’s players, Eya Laure was a clear standout as she earned a career-high 31 points—a far cry from Ateneo’s Faith Nisperos and Vanie Gandler—who tallied 22 points and 18 points, respectively. Given their high attacking efficiency, Ateneo’s wingers have proven to be reliable scorers up to this point in the season, but other spikers need to contribute as well.

Looking at the statistics of the last two matches, the gap in points from the duo of Nisperos and Gandler to the next Blue Eagle is quite considerable. Against the Lady Warriors, Erika Raagas and Joan Narit each earned nine points apiece, while Alexis Miner scored seven points in their game against UST. These single-digit contributions—though invaluable—are nonetheless a sign that the other spikers of the Blue and White could be better utilized.

Ateneo can learn from the Golden Tigresses and attempt to replicate UST’s trio of Imee Hernandez, KC Galdones, and Ypril Tapia, who reinforced their team’s offense and docked 14, 12, and 11 points, respectively. Even with an unstoppable scorer like Laure, UST still managed to get other players on the board as much as possible.

In future matches, I hope that the Blue Eagles can harness their full attacking potential and generate offense beyond the wings. Now that the first round has come to a close, it is time for the Blue Eagles to learn from their shortcomings, dust off the rust, and emerge an even stronger set of players.

2. Opponents’ window

Kristen: Every point that a team throws away, its opponents take to draw themselves closer to a win. Errors could be very significant especially at the most crucial time, and this is what we witnessed in the game of the Blue Eagles against the UST Golden Tigresses.

Ateneo fought hard to cover and eliminate a two-set deficit in their final match of Round 1, slowly cutting into the UST lead in the third canto. Although the Blue Eagles were successful in extending the face-off with a thrilling third set showdown, they fell short in the fourth. Both teams missed and created several match point opportunities in the finale, the same way they did in the previous set.

The difference in the fourth set, however, was that the Golden Tigresses were able to resist their rivals’ attempt for a comeback .Ultimately, the Blue Eagles’ failure to secure the set could be attributed to their multiple errors towards the end of the game.

While Ateneo only tallied 29 errors compared to UST’s 39 overall, the Blue Eagles accumulated theirs right at the closing—either from attacks or the service line—which inhibited them from taking advantage of the Golden Tigresses’ own faults. UST gave Ateneo several attempts to secure the fourth set and tie the game up 2-2 to force a fifth, yet Ateneo failed to capitalize on this and instead committed a flurry of their own errors. 

Although the Blue Eagles had a similar experience in their battle against the Lady Warriors where they recorded 28 errors, the circumstances of the match with UST were quite different, making their mistakes more tolerable. Ateneo had dominated the majority of the game against UE and did not find themselves down by two sets, unlike their situation against the Golden Tigresses. Against the Lady Warriors, there was also no threat of an Eya Laure who could easily take advantage of easy balls.

Despite errors being natural in every game, the Blue Eagles at the losing end could have done more to keep miscalculations in check against UST, as they were in no position to be giving away free points. As the curtains are closing on their chance to secure a spot in the Final Four, Ateneo should be more cautious when executing both offensive and defensive plays.