THE ATENEO Lady Eagles remain unmoved at the top of the standings after defeating the University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons in straight sets, 25-15, 25-14, and 25-15 on Saturday, March 11 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao City.

Today’s win over their fellow Katipunan-based counterparts sees the Lady Eagles improve to a 7-1 win-loss record in Season 79 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball tournament.

The Lady Eagles started the first set on a strong note, bulldozing UP to enter the second technical leading by eight (16-8). Kat Tolentino, who was largely responsible for many of the Blue and White’s points in the set, continued her strong run of play as Ateneo eventually took the first set at 25-15.

Meanwhile, the second set saw Michelle Morente, Bea de Leon, and Jhoana Maraguinot join Tolentino, as the Lady Eagles once again entered the second technical leading (16-11). Eventually, a service ace claimed the set for Ateneo at 25-14.

The Lady Eagles then began the third set in powerful fashion, racing to an early 3-0 scoring run to lead the Lady Maroons. However, UP would soon ignite their own scoring run to tie the set at 3-3. Michelle Morente, however, refused to give ground as she ignited a 5-0 scoring run to send Ateneo into the first technical timeout leading by three (8-5). The Lady Eagles’ strong play would then continue after the technical timeout as Gopico, de Leon, Morado, and Maraguinot sent Ateneo into the second technical timeout leading by seven (16-9). Eventually, a clever dump from Morado would seal the straight set victory for the Lady Eagles at 25-15.

After the match, Assistant Coach Sherwin Meneses praised the talent and leadership exhibited today by Team Captain Jia Morado: “Iba talaga ang instinct ni Jia as a setter– kahit pangit yung reception, may gagawin siya para maka-score tayo. (Jia’s instinct as a setter is something else– even though our reception was bad, she’ll set up something so we can score”

The Lady Eagles will square off against the UST Golden Tigresses at 4PM on Wednesday, March 15 at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

Box Scores:

Ateneo: Maraguinot- 17, Tolentino- 10, de Leon- 9, Morente- 9, Morado- 5, Gopico- 4

UP: Molde- 8, Carlos- 7, Tiamzon- 4, Gannaban- 4, Buitre- 4, Bersola- 2, Layug- 1