Four games into the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 Women’s Volleyball Tournament, this edition of The GUIDON Sports weekly takeaways focuses on the current state of the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team as they look to break into the win column.
HEADING INTO their second week of action winless, the Ateneo Blue Eagles faced a tough road in the third and fourth game of their Season 88 campaign, pitted up against powerhouses University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses and the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers.
Yet, the Blue Eagles entered the week with hope. With the rise of star rookie Ana Hermosura and the resurgence of key veteran Jlo Delos Santos, the Katipunan-based unit found themselves with a level of stabilization. Anchored on their top-notch floor defense and the improvement of their young talents, the Blue and White hoped to capture their first victory of the season.
Despite the rise of offensive stars in the squad, the team’s back-to-back losses pushed them further down the standings with a 0-4 record. Despite the consecutive losses, the Blue Eagles have shown the capacity to compete even with the strongest of teams, exemplified by toe-to-toe performances with the Growling Tigresses and dealing the Lady Spikers their first set loss of the season.
Now entering a crucial stretch that could determine whether the team will remain at the bottom of the standings, The GUIDON Sports looks at two key takeaways from last week’s battles.
Shaky walls
Edge: Just like in other sports, a championship-caliber volleyball team needs key players who can consistently create plays on the offensive end and slow down the opposing squad with their defensive command. While the AWVT has found their offensive threats in Hermosura and Delos Santos, a game-changing defensive mystery still lingers: Who will bolster their net defense?
Fueled by relentless grit and an offense that refuses to fold under pressure, the Katipunan-based squad have shown their capacity to fiercely challenge and go bumper-to-bumper against formidable teams.
Despite the Blue Eagles’s first set loss against the Golden Tigresses, 24-26, Ateneo proved in that set that they can keep up with high-caliber teams. The Blue and White brought the third set down to the wire as they forced UST to dig deep once again, challenging their opponent’s defense and ultimately making it a tightly-contested frame, 21-25. In their duel against the Lady Archers, Ateneo electrified the UAAP community as they blemished DLSU’s clean slate, handing them their first set loss of the season after outplaying them in the second frame, 25-21.
Offensive output kept the scores within striking distance for Ateneo. However, it is undeniable that their blockings and presence at the net have been dragging them away from their first victory. The Blue Eagles only recorded four blocks against Golden Tigresses, allowing veterans Angge Poyos and Regina Jurado to primarily control the pace of the game and erupt for 30 attack points. The same narrative unfolded against their archrivals as the Blue and White’s three blocks were insufficient to contain Angel Canino and Amie Provido who voraciously feasted for 34 attack points.
Ateneo was within reach of momentum-shifting wins, but the absence of efficient defensive anchors at the net proved costly. On the bright side, this room for improvement gives the Ateneo community hope that once the Blue Eagles figure out how to fortify their defensive walls, AWVT will be a hard out for the entire league.
Running out of gas
Mario: In spite of their current 0-4 record, the Blue and White have established themselves as a team not to be taken lightly, going toe-to-toe with the strongest the UAAP has to offer. Whether this be against the Fighting Maroons, Golden Tigresses, or the Lady Spikers, the team has found success in finding momentum over the league’s elite squads.
The problem lies, however, in maintaining that momentum.
Far too often, the Blue Eagles have struggled to keep themselves in the driver’s seat, relinquishing leads despite their strong starts. Following a reverse-sweep loss at the hands of the Fighting Maroons in their first week of action, the Blue Eagles once again fell victim to a familiar unraveling—a phenomenon that has plagued them thus far this season.
After taking a first set loss against the Golden Tigresses, the Loyola Heights-based squad entered the second set of their matchup with renewed vigor, building a six-point cushion early. However, that separation proved fleeting, as the Coach Veloso-led unit ended up losing the second set in resounding fashion, falling in straight sets to the Golden Tigresses.
The same was seen in their matchup against the Lady Spikers. After dropping the first set, the team displayed revitalized effort in the second set. Showcasing what DLSU Assistant Coach Noel Orcullo praised as “outstanding,” the Blue Eagles’ floor defense was a key cog in serving the Lady Spikers their first set loss of the season. However, this energy quickly faded, as the team simply could not keep up with the Taft-based unit, dropping the succeeding sets in dominant fashion.
With a young squad full of rookies and developing stars, composure is not always expected to come immediately, and that reality has underscored just how crucial the mental dimension of the game truly is. Beyond rotations and schemes, the mental aspect of the game has proven to be just as vital to the success of any team in any sport. For the Blue Eagles, the talent has definitely been on display, it just needs experience and composure to sustain it.
Upcoming games:
Wednesday, March 4, at 3:00 PM, vs. Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws at the Smart Araneta Coliseum
Sunday, March 8, at 1:00 PM, vs. National University Lady Bulldogs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum
Current Standings (W-L):
- DLSU Lady Spikers (4-0)
- UP Fighting Maroons (3-1)
- NU Lady Bulldogs (3-1)
- FEU Lady Tamaraws (2-2)
- UST Golden Tigresses (2-2)
- AdU Lady Falcons (2-2)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (0-4)
- UE Lady Red Warriors (0-4)
