THE ATENEO Lady Eagles earned their third win on the bounce after defeating the San Beda Red Lionesses in four sets, 25-15, 24-26, 25-5, 25-20, in the 3rd season of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Collegiate Conference at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Rookie Faith Nisperos scored 13 points to extend her streak of double-digit scoring games to three. Jaja Maraguinot, now playing the role of primary setter with Deanna Wong out with injury, notched 33 excellent sets.

The first set started out well for Ateneo as they held a three-point lead entering the first technical timeout (TTO), 8-5. A kill by Raagas off a Ravena set pushed the lead to seven, 15-8. San Beda was able to string together a few scoring runs, but the Lady Eagles gained back momentum and finished with an 8-1 scoring run to end the set, 25-15.

The Red Lionesses were able to secure an early lead in the second set, but a 3-0 run by the Blue and White tied the game at eight. Both squads traded scoring runs with Ateneo’s Ponggay Gaston and San Beda’s Cesca Racraquin powering their sides. Ateneo came out of it in a convincing position to take the set after a drop by Vanie Gandler put them one point away from a two-set advantage, 24-20. However, costly errors by the Lady Eagles and successful attacks from the middle allowed San Beda to pull one set back, 24-26.

The Lady Eagles dominated the third from the get-go. The Katipunan-based squad entered the first TTO with a seven-point lead fueled by an early streak of kills by Erika Raagas, 8-1. Ateneo continued their dominant performance thanks to a couple of service aces by Raagas and powerful kills by Nisperos for a 9-0 run, 18-3. 

Their offense continued to rack up points until a long rally finished by Raagas’ back-row spike took set point, 25-5. San Beda’s only attack point was from an off the block kill by Racraquin, one other point was from a block, while the rest were errors by Ateneo.

The Red Lionesses edged the fourth set entering the first TTO before a 7-1 run by Ateneo quickly changed the tide, 13-9. Later in the set, a drop ball by Racraquin trimmed the deficit down to one, 17-16, but a slew of San Beda errors helped Ateneo pull away. Gaston won match point off a kill block, 25-20

The Lady Eagles are now one win away from a semi-finals berth. They are set to face the Adamson Lady Falcons on Sunday, September 8, at 8:00 AM at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City. 

Set Score:
Ateneo-San Beda: 25-15, 24-26, 25-5, 25-20

Photo by Paolo Yaptinchay