UNABLE TO maintain their momentum, the Ateneo Blue Eagles faltered to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in four sets, 25-21, 11-25, 22-25, 12-25. The battle between the two squads took place earlier today, March 21, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Following this loss, the Blue and White fell to 1-7 in their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 campaign, maintaining their spot at the seventh seed.
Pacing the Blue Eagles in this performance was rookie standout Ana Hermosura, who accumulated 11 points all on attacks, to lead Ateneo in scoring. Following her were key veterans Zel Tsunashima and Alex Montoro, tallying nine and eight points respectively.
In the opening set, the Blue Eagles entered the taraflex exhibiting impressive floor defense from all ends of the court. Eager to go head-to-head with the Golden Tigresses, the Blue Eagles leaned on the efforts of winger Zey Pacia to close the first long rally of the match, 3-3.
Quickly establishing rhythm, the Katipunan-based unit utilized Bacolod-natives Hermosura and Jihan Chuatico’s dominance at the net to hike up points, 5-6. Consequently, Chuatico’s strategic free ball, paired with the defensive lapses of UST, equalized the playing field for both ends of the court, 8-8.
The following frames saw the Blue and White’s excellent attack front through Montoro and Pacia’s consistent off-the-block outings, 14-12. Keeping up with this dynamic, the formidable duo of Chuatico and Hermosura hustled from the offensive line to maintain the upperhand, 17-14.
As the Blue Eagles entered the crucial territory, Ateneo persisted in their impressive wing play to challenge the Black and Gold, 20-19. However, UST’s Angge Poyos once again equalized the set with a sharp cross-court attack, 20-20.
Despite the late scare, Hermosura quickly translated the pressure into heavy down-the-line smashes to dominate the backend of the set, 24-21. Adding to this strenuous feat, De Leon’s willful attack from the middle sealed the Blue Eagles first advantage in the match, 25-21.
Entering the second set, the Blue Eagles struggled to break through UST’s stonewall net defense, quickly falling behind at 1-5. Unable to replicate their rhythm from the previous set, Ateneo’s offense continued to sputter as their deficit increased, 1-7.
Finally ending the Blue and White’s silence, Hermosura delivered with consecutive off-the-block points to shrink UST’s lead, 4-7. However, the Golden Tigresses quickly restabilized, with winger Poyos reestablishing Ateneo’s six point disadvantage, 4-10.
With the errors mounting on the side of Katipunan, a net touch from sophomore Chuatico further compounded Ateneo’s woes, 5-13. Despite a strong off-the-block attack and service ace from Chuatico to trim the lead, 8-15, a kill block from UST further derailed the Ateneo comeback attempt, 10-19.
As the Blue Eagles’ struggles with reception continued to persist, Reg Jurado delivered another denial to secure the second set for the Golden Tigresses in dominant fashion, 11-25.
Challenged by the aggressive attack front of UST, Ateneo struggled to find their footing in the opening frames of the third set–quickly falling to a 0-4 deficit. Despite the plague of attack errors from the Blue Eagles, Tsunashima tallied the first attack point for Ateneo at 2-5.
In the succeeding sequences, the set was defined by defense errors coming from the Blue and White side. However, Montoro’s relentless attacks and Chuatico’s calculated middleplays kept the squad alive amid the defensive lapses, 8-10.
Recalibrating their strategy, the Blue Eagles capitalized on the commendable wing play from frontliners Hermosura, Chuatico, and Pacia, 17-18. Stamping her presence in the match, Yssa Nisperos then tallied her first point to balance the score board, 18-18.
Despite bouncing back into form, Ateneo fell to UST’s all-around dominance in the backend of the set. Even with Ateneo’s wingers hustling to gain the upperhand, the set ultimately fell at the hands of Chuatico’s attack error, 22-25.
In hopes of extending the match to a do-or-die fifth set, the Blue Eagles took advantage of UST’s attacking errors, taking an early 3-1 lead. However, the Blue and White were unable to contain superstar Poyos, as Ateneo found themselves behind entering the first technical timeout, 6-8.
The errors continued to mount for the Katipunan-based squad, with Hermosura’s attack sailing long to widen their deficit, 7-11. Moments later, Rob Silla’s attack also failed to cross the tape, further sullying Ateneo’s chances, 7-15.
Looking to spark a comeback, De Leon skied through the air to keep Ateneo within shouting distance, 9-17. Yet, the Blue and White’s net defense continued to falter, with Poyos scoring once more, 10-20. The final dagger came at the hands of Poyos as well, sealing off the net to hand Ateneo their seventh loss of the season, 12-25.
In a continuous search for their second Season 88 win, the Blue Eagles look to counter the Adamson University Lady Falcons on Wednesday, March 25, at 3:00 PM at the same venue.
Box scores:
Ateneo (1): Hermosura – 11, Tsunashima – 9, Montoro – 8, Chuatico – 6, Pacia – 5, De Leon – 3, Silla – 2, Cortez – 2, Nisperos – 1, Delos Santos – 1
UST (3): Poyos – 25, Jurado – 14, Perdido – 11, Bron – 7, Unekwe – 5, Carballo – 2, Altea – 2, Gula – 1
Set scores:
Ateneo-UST: 25-21, 11-25, 22-25, 12-25
Women’s Volleyball Standings
- DLSU Lady Spikers (7-0)
- NU Lady Bulldogs (6-2)
- UST Golden Tigresses (5-3)
- FEU Lady Tamaraws (5-3)
- AdU Lady Falcons (4-3)
- UP Fighting Maroons (3-5)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (1-7)
- UE Lady Warriors (0-8)
