In line with the ongoing University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Volleyball tournament, this weekly series will analyze the state of the Ateneo Lady Eagles in their journey to reclaim the volleyball crown.
Recap of the week
THE LADY Eagles continued their run of good form with a four set triumph (21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14) over the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors on Saturday, February 17, and a hard-fought five set win (25-18, 14-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-10) against the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons on Wednesday, February 21.
The Adamson match had both teams trading sets, with Ateneo taking the first and third set by seven points and Adamson blowing out the Katipunan-based squad in the second and fourth sets. The game ended with a very emotional match point by Madayag who denied Chiara Permentilla’s cross court attempt, sending the bench and fans into a frenzy to celebrate their first five-set match of the season.
[5th set] Madayag finishes the match with a huge block! Ateneo wins it in five sets!
Ateneo 15 AdU 10#UAAPVolleyball pic.twitter.com/Su2rYP6Kdt
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) February 21, 2018
Upcoming games
Sunday, February 25, 2:00 PM vs. University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons (1-3) at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City
Saturday, March 3, 4:00 PM vs. De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers (4-2) at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City
1. Double libero system
Dani Ravena seemed to have taken the starting libero spot from veteran Ria Lo. But in the UE match, Head Coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit opted to play Lo in the last two sets, granting her the starting spot in the Adamson match. Simply put, Lo is excellent when it comes to digging, but remains a liability on service reception as opposing servers have been observed to target her as a hole on the court. Ravena has also been targeted and exploited by a few service specialists at times, which means the team’s libero woes may continue.
In the double libero system tested against the Lady Falcons, Lo and Ravena played like revelations. Both Lady Eagles were used throughout the match, with Ravena coming in for service reception and Lo being used whenever the Ateneo held serve—although this was only the case for the latter part of the match. The libero position is special in that substitutions are unlimited. Hence, teams are not required to inform officials whenever a substitution occurs. This means that they can walk in and out as long as a rally is not occurring. This allows the use of two liberos in a match, one that specializes on service reception and another that specializes in digging.
Both liberos showed improvement, as Ravena earned ten excellent receives and Lo racked up 12 against the Lady Falcons. Their contributions make setter Deanna Wong’s job a lot easier, as the team cannot spike if they cannot get the good first ball in the air in the first place.
2. Maddie Madayag’s hot streak in blocking
In Ateneo’s last two games, the Lady Eagles racked up a total of 22 blocks across nine sets. They currently lead the league in blocks with a total of 54. In the past three games, Madayag alone has totaled 14 blocks, averaging one denial per set, which is higher than NU’s Jaja Santiago, who averages at 0.89 per set. As mentioned above, it was also Madayag who took match point against AdU with a kill block.
There really isn’t one, catch-all explanation as to why Madayag is blocking so well recently. It may be down to a predictable offense from the last three opponents or it could just be because Madayag has found her rhythm and stayed focused in high pressure situations that have allowed her to read the opposing setter well and get to her spot on time and consistently.
Since the team ranks seventh in digging, it is key that the Lady Eagles keep the ball on the opposition side of the net to prevent the opponent from exploiting their holes when it comes to floor defense. If Madayag can maintain her numbers in blocking, then the glaring weakness that is Ateneo’s floor defense may not be as prevalent.
3. Jho Maraguinot’s floor defense
So far this season, Jho Maraguinot has consistently appeared on the stat sheet on either one or both of the floor defense statistics. Since she is colloquially known as the “eagle claw” due to her unique spiking form and her deadly attacking from anywhere on the court, her defensive game is sometimes overlooked.
Digging is a statistic that tracks how many spikes or attacks a player has properly received—although acrobatic and difficult receives are also considered here. Reception, meanwhile, tracks how well a player or team can receive the opposing team’s serve, as an excellent receive means that the setter does not need to adjust to the ball much.
Maraguinot excelled in both digging and receiving in the UE match as she earned a statistical triple double with 20 points, 12 digs, and 11 receptions. This is impressive because Maraguinot was able to produce on the offensive end while directly defending against the opposition’s serves and spikes. Her work in the back row was key in the coverage of zones one and five, as UE’s attacks in these areas were often stopped by the veteran open spiker.
