THE ATENEO Lady Eagles achieved a podium finish after defeating the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Lady Blazers in four sets, 25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 25-19, in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference at the FilOil Flying V Centre, San Juan City on Saturday, October 12.
Rookie Faith Nisperos emerged as the best player of the game, with her 21 points coming from 19 attacks and two blocks. Three other Lady Eagles also racked up double-digit points as Jules Samonte, Ponggay Gaston, and Joan Narit all combined for 40.
Nisperos started the offense of Ateneo with a down-the-line kill coming off from an excellent set by Janel Maraguinot. Nisperos gave Ateneo an early lead with her consecutive points, challenging the floor defense along the sides, 8-4. Kila Miranda of CSB tried to disrupt the rally of the Lady Eagles by hammering the middle, confusing the defense of Ateneo, 16-10. But, Gaston ultimately took the first set after a powerful cross-court smash, 25-20.
In the second set, Samonte executed a drop ball from a perfect quick set by Maraguinot. Narit then stepped up and converted with a quick attack, giving Ateneo a 3-0 lead to start set two. Ateneo’s solid defense coupled by their service aces forced errors on the side of the Lady Blazers, allowing the Lady Eagles to cruise past CSB in the second set, 25-14.
The third set saw the Lady Blazers struggle with defense as Nisperos kept hitting cross-court corners while Samonte found open spots in the middle, 6-0. Gaston continued to make the blockers pay by getting her points off the hands of CSB’s Gayle Pascual and Jade Gentapa, 16-5.
However, the huge lead of Ateneo did not faze the Taft-based squad. After consecutive errors by the Lady Eagles, CSB made a major comeback to cut their deficit to three, 20-17. Gandler’s attack did not make it beyond the net which gave the first deadlock of the set, 22-22. A side line spike by Miranda extended the match to a fourth set, 25-22.
In the final set, Samonte initiated the offense for Ateneo with a drop ball in the middle, surprising the CSB defense. The Lady Blazers answered back with cross-court attacks from Chelsea Umali, 6-6. Gandler then tried to bounce back with combination plays and triple blocks with Nisperos, 8-6. The scoring alternated for both teams for the most parts of the set. However, The Blue and White managed to pull away with a 3-0 run led by Gaston’s off-the-block smash, 17-5. An attack error by CSB secured the win and gave Ateneo the bronze medal for the tournament, 25-19.
After the game, Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro singled out the disappointing third set of the Lady Eagles. “I’m trying to teach [the team] that they should send a message to their opponents. It’s not about winning two sets, okay na. If you won the first two sets, you [still] have to be aggressive,” Almadro remarked.
Set Score:
Ateneo-CSB: 25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 25-19
