ON THE fifth day of the UAAP Season 74 Beach Volleyball Championships, the Ateneo Lady Beach Spikers aimed to extend their winning streak anew, as they faced the Adamson Lady Falcons at the University of the East – Caloocan sand courts on September 4.
Ateneans Bea Tan and Alyssa Valdez looked to bring the same dominant performance they brought against the University of the Philippines. Looking to notch another straight set victory, the Ateneo duo was faced with Adamson’s Pau Soriano and Shiela Pineda.
The first set was arguably the worst the Lady Beach Spikers have had the whole season. With miscommunication rampant and a barrage of well executed sets and spikes by Adamson, Tan and Valdez found themselves trailing early, 10-1. Ateneo then took advantage of Adamson’s complacency and rallied back point after point, spurring an immediate 5-1 scoring run.
However, the Lady Falcons were able to regroup after the technical timeout and still held a six point lead, 18-12, and were three points closer to claiming the first set. Still, Ateneo’s experience under rough situations proved to be vital, as the Lady Beach Spikers were able to rally themselves back with consistent returns and right-on spikes—and in no time, the score was deadlocked at 20. The San Marcelino-based duo could not find an answer to Ateneo’s flaming offense as they dropped the set, 21-23.
With all the momentum swinging by their side, the Lady Beach Spikers started the second set with a quick 5-1 lead. Fatigue and panic definitely struck the Lady Falcons as unforced errors and mistimed shots suddenly became abundant in their play. Despite closing in the score at 19-17, Ateneo’s offense was simply too much to handle. The Lady Beach Spikers never gave Adamson the lead and the second set quickly ended with the score of 21-17 in favor of Tan and Valdez.
With the win, the Lady Beach Spikers now have a 4-0 record and are perched atop the standings as the only undefeated school in the tournament.
They will aim to keep their winning streak alive as they go against the University of Santo Tomas in the UE Caloocan sand courts at 9:30 AM on September 7.
