THE ATENEO Lady Eagles dominated their archrivals De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers in game one of the finals series, ending the much-awaited match in straight sets, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, on Wednesday, March 11, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The Lady Spikers had to make do without their team captain and regular spiker Ara Galang, after she tore both her anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in their stepladder match against National University. Cyd Demecillo and setter Kim Fajardo then stepped up to fill in the leadership role for DLSU in the hopes that they can hoist the young team throughout the finals and provide the points regularly delivered by Galang.
Due to Galang’s absence, the Lady Eagles had to evaluate the new playing style of the Taft-based team. This allowed for an aggressive exchange between both teams during the first set, which only ended when Team Captain Alyssa Valdez escaped through her block-piercing attacks.
Ateneo saw through DLSU’s usage of Demecillo and Eli Soyud to fill in Galang’s outside hitter position, and was able to adjust accordingly. This, along with DLSU’s reception errors, helped Ateneo win the set at 25-18.
The second set did not look any better for the La Salle squad. Several unforced errors plagued the spikers, while the defenders committed several misreception errors. The Lady Eagles took this advantage to rampage on the attacks, successfully ending the set at 25-19.
The Katipunan-based team preserved their momentum until the third set, care of the outpour of points from Valdez, Michelle Morente and Amy Ahomiro. DLSU lost a lot of points due to service errors and outside hits, paving the way for the Lady Eagles to lead throughout the set.
Towards the end of the match, DLSU’s Camille Cruz went down due to a knee injury, further dampening La Salle’s comeback efforts. The Lady Eagles broke through and continued to gain the points they needed to take a step closer to their coveted back-t0-back championship, ending the set and match at 25-19.
This win positioned the Lady Eagles as the University Athletic Association of the Philippines record holder for the longest winning streak in the Women’s Volleyball division at 15-0, breaking DLSU’s record of 14 in the previous season.
Player of the Game Valdez dominated the overall playing field with 25 points, followed up by Morente with eight and Ahomiro with seven.
Their counterparts from the green and white struggled in the offensive department, with Demecillo being the only one scoring double digits at 10 points. Soyud and Mary Joy Baron followed with eight and seven points, respectively.
Ateneo setter Jia Morado distributed the ball with 20 excellent sets, while Dawn Macandili of DLSU notched 13 excellent digs.
As the Lady Eagles approach the next game in the Finals series, Valdez shared that there is no room for complacency and overconfidence. In a mix of English and Filipino, she quipped, “[Coach Tai] always reminds us that we’re not yet there and that we have a lot to improve. We think that during trainings, everyone is a rookie because all of us continuously learn a lot.”
The Lady Eagles will look to seal the series and claim another championship, and DLSU will hope to stay alive in Season 77 in game two of the finals series. The match will happen on 3:30 PM Saturday, March 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
SCORES:
ADMU: Valdez – 25, Morente – 8, Ahomiro – 7, De Leon – 6, De Jesus – 4, Morado – 3
DLSU: Demecillo – 10, Soyud – 8, Baron – 7, Reyes – 4, Fajardo – 3, Cerveza – 1, Cheng – 1, Tiu – 1
Updated on Mar. 11, 2015 at 10:33PM
It waa simply as “will” issue. And they Lady Eagles have prevailed. They have learnt to master themselves. There is no invidual pride. For they are devoid of it. They have been trained well.