THE ATENEO Lady Eagles surrendered to the defending champions, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers in straight sets, 17-25, 13-25, 23-25 in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, April 13, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Head Coach Oliver Almadro decided to start Deanna Wong, Kat Tolentino, Maddie Madayag, Bea De Leon, Ponggay Gaston, Jules Samonte, and Kim Gequillana at libero. Reserve libero Dani Ravena and rookies Vanie Gandler and Erika Raagas also made appearances off the bench.

None of the Lady Eagles reached double digits in scoring, with Gaston leading Ateneo with only seven points. This marks the first game of the season where Kat Tolentino was unable to score more than 10 points. Wong produced twelve excellent sets throughout the match.

Team Captain Bea De Leon drew first blood with a drop ball. DLSU then followed this up with an early 3-0 run that was ended by an off-the-block spike credited to Samonte, 3-5. The Lady Spikers entered the first technical timeout (TTO) with a three-point advantage over the Lady Eagles, 5-8. Ateneo kept the score close with their rivals until May Luna took to the service deck. From her service, DLSU was able to shock Ateneo ‘s defense with a 7-0 run, 13-22. Gaston stopped the bleeding for the Blue and White with an off-the-block kill but Jolina Dela Cruz’s attack ended the first set in favor of the squad from Taft, 17-25.

The defending champions maintained their momentum and began the first set with a quick kill from the middle courtesy of Aduke Ogunsanya, 0-1. The Lady Eagles trailed DLSU by five points going into the first TTO of the second set after Clemente shut the door on Ateneo’s attack, 3-8. The Blue and White continued to struggle to find answers to DLSU’s offense until Gaston provided some breathing space after a powerful down-the-line spike, 7-14. DLSU, however, kept the lead going into the second TTO after Raagas committed an attack error 11-16. DLSU, however, committed a few errors of their own which Ateneo capitalized on en route to a 4-0 run to leave the score at 11-18. Gandler’s crucial service error handed the second set victory to the Lady Spikers, 13-25.

The Lady Eagles sought to redeem themselves in the third set as De Leon slammed the ball down to give her side the early 1-0 lead.  Luna’s spike to zone five was answered by Gaston to keep the scores tight, 5-7. DLSU’s Team Captain, Desiree Cheng, spike gave her side a three-point deficit heading into the first TTO, 5-8. DLSU led Ateneo by five points in the second TTO despite De Leon’s attempts to keep the scores tight, 11-16. All hope seemed to be lost for the Lady Eagles but they continued to push until the end as they pressured DLSU into calling a timeout after Madayag’s ace cut the lead down to just two points, 21-23. The Lady Eagles caught up too late however, as Ogunsanya ended the game with a running attack, 23-25.

Despite the loss, the Lady Eagles remain atop the overall team standings with a record of 10-2. The Lady Eagles hope to bounce back from this defeat and come out victorious against the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons on April 24, Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Set Score:

Ateneo-DLSU:  17-25, 13-25, 23-25

Photo by Joshua Tan