THE ATENEO Women’s Volleyball Team (AWVT) succumbed to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses in another sweep, 12-25, 22-25, 19-25. The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 first-round matchup was held earlier today at the Mall of Asia Arena in the City of Pasay.
With today’s loss, the Blue and White falls to a 1-4 win-loss record which places them at seventh in the Women’s tournament standings.
Veteran Lyann De Guzman led the Blue Eagles once again with 11 points, followed by Zel Tsunashima and AC Miner with eight and seven markers, respectively. Meanwhile, the undefeated Golden Tigresses banked on Angge Poyos’s 26 points in the contest.
The España-based squad leaned on Poyos’s heroics early on to take a massive 5-0 advantage from the get-go, forcing Ateneo to call for time. Shortly after, Yvana Sulit finally put an end to UST’s onslaught with a crosscourt kill to get the Blue Eagles on the board, 1-5. However, Ateneo had to rely on picking up points through the faults of their opponents, scoring four of their first five points off the Tigresses’ errors in an otherwise unfavorable 5-14 deficit.
Despite their offensive woes early in the frame, the Blue Eagles managed to go on a quick 5-0 run to get within striking distance, 10-14, leading UST Head Coach Kung Fu Reyes to call a timeout. Coming off the huddle intending to end the Blue Eagles’ sudden outburst, the Golden Tigresses took advantage of their strong defense with three blocks to Ateneo’s zero to command the rest of the set, 25-19.
Mirroring the events of the first canto, Poyos continued her dominant display by executing four powerful kills to put the Tigresses up to start set two, 5-1. Looking to provide much-needed momentum for the Blue Eagles, Tsunashima and Miner responded with a pair of off-the-block points to cut the UST lead to three, 4-7. After the short-lived Ateneo run, Jonna Perdido took over midway through the set, bagging three points to extend UST’s advantage to seven, 11-4.
As the frame continued, Ateneo struggled to receive UST’s barrage of attacks, absorbing a service ace from Jurado and vicious downward spikes from Poyos. The set concluded with a dominant offensive showcase for the Tigresses, giving Ateneo their second set loss, 16-25.
The final canto painted a bleak image to start as the Blue Eagles would go down 0-6. Putting an end to Ateneo’s scoring drought, De Guzman netted a swift hit off of a UST defender, 1-6. With newfound momentum after finally getting on the board, great offensive efforts from Zey Pacia, De Guzman, and Miner helped Ateneo mount a 7-2 run to tie the set, 15-15. However, the combination of Ateneo’s receiving mishaps and UST’s overwhelming strikes ended the Blue Eagles’ hopes for a fourth set, 19-25.
The Blue and White will look to bounce back as they take on the Adamson Lady Falcons next week on Wednesday, March 13, at 4:00 PM. As of writing, the UAAP has yet to announce the venue of next week’s fixture.
Box Scores:
Ateneo (0): De Guzman – 11, Tsunashima – 8, Miner – 7, Buena – 3, Pacia – 2, Nisperos – 2, Sulit – 1, Cortez – 1
UST (3): Poyos – 26, Jurado – 12, Perdido – 8, Banagua – 5, Coronado – 4, Plaza – 3, Gula – 3
Set scores: 19-25, 16-25, 19-25
Standings (W-L):
- UST Golden Tigresses (5-0)
- DLSU Lady Spikers (4-1)
- NU Lady Bulldogs (4-1)
- AdU Lady Falcons (2-2)
- FEU Lady Tamaraws (2-3)
- UE Lady Red Warriors (1-4)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (1-4)
- UP Fighting Maroons (0-4)
