Photo by Joseph S. Angan

On the final day of the elimination round, the Lady Beach Spikers played visitor to the University of the East (UE) Amazons at Caloocan on Sunday, September 11.

Looking to garner enough momentum for the semifinals, Ateneans Bea Tan and Alyssa Valdez brought their skills to the court against UE’s Jessica Paron and Jimberly Dizon.

The Lady Beach Spikers opened the game with a quick 7-3 scoring run care of Tan’s explosive spikes accompanied by Valdez’s deep serves. The Ateneo tandem brought much intimidation to their opponents as the Amazons were forced to commit error after error. Ateneo’s lead ballooned after the first technical timeout, 13-8.

Ateneo easily piled up the points and was ahead comfortably all throughout the first set. With Tan capitalizing on UE’s weak returns, the Lady Beach Spikers found themselves blowing their opponents out. Valdez delivered the finishing blow with a thunderous spike to end the first, 21-11.

Tan and Valdez continued their dominance in the second set, as their lead grew to as much as 10 in the late into the match, 18-8. Though UE answered back with a 6-0 scoring run of their own, Tan was still scorching hot from the previous set and delivered consistency down the stretch. Whether it was in her serves, sets or spikes, the veteran Lady Beach Spiker brought enough firepower to deliver another straight set victory for Ateneo, 21-14.

When asked how they were able to remain consistent throughout the match, Tan and Valdez simply responded, “Teamwork, cooperation and communication. As much as possible, we wanted to minimize all errors.”

Sharing the top spot in the standings with UST, this will be Ateneo’s first appearance in the Final Four. Support them in their next games as they contend for the UAAP Beach Volleyball crown next week at UE Caloocan.