“Coach Tai’s ‘heartstrong’ spirit really worked for us, we played as a team. All the hardships we experienced from practice paid off,” said the 19-year-old Morente, who led the Lady Eagles with 17 points. Photo by Martin San Diego
Ateneo’s “HeartStrong” spirit is still steaming hot, ending La Salle’s 30-game win streak with its own eight-game streak.
The Ateneo de Manila University fired from all angles, beating the lights out of the three-time defending champions De La Salle University, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-20, to tie the virtual best-of-five University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball finals Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Lady Eagles played aggressively, seizing the opportunity off the Lady Spikers’ string of errors in the second set to gain psychological advantage over their archrivals.
Unleashing a slew of power spikes from rookie Michelle Morente, first-ball spikes from Kiwi Ahomiro, and crucial digs from Denden Lazaro and Alyssa Valdez, the Lady Eagles erected an irreversible lead in the third set which dictated the tempo of the fourth set.
“Coach Tai’s (Bundit) ‘heartstrong’ spirit really worked for us. We played as a team. All the hardships we experienced in practice paid off,” said the 19-year-old Morente, who led the Lady Eagles with 17 points.
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All of Ateneo’s seven fielded players shined as Valdez added 16 points and ten excellent digs; De Jesus with eight attacks, two aces, and two blocks; and Ahomiro with eight attacks, four blocks, and three aces. On the defensive end, libero Denden Lazaro had 22 excellent digs, almost equaling the 29 of the Lady Spikers.
Middle hitter Aerial Patnongon connected on timely quick hits with three points while rookie setter Jia Morado had 40 excellent sets, singlehandedly out-setting the entire La Salle team.
Open spikers Cyd Demecillo and Ara Galang led the way for La Salle with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
The Lady Spikers, coming off a two-week break for booking a direct finals ticket by sweeping Season 76 which gave them an automatic 1-0 advantage prior to today’s game, played with no rust in set one, getting on the offensive with power spikes by Demecillo and Galang against Ateneo’s jittery defense.
La Salle even erected an early 7-3 lead in the second set with its dreaded offensive blocking, but the Lady Spikers became a tad too eager on the net, committing three net interferences on occasions when the Lady Eagles were catching momentum.
The two squads fought toe to toe but a spike by Valdez and an ace by Ahomiro put the Lady Eagles up, 24-22, in the set. The Lady Spikers ultimately gave up the set with a quick hit by Mika Reyes that went wide.
Just like the previous set, the third set started in a tight tussle but the Lady Eagles surged ahead with a 6-0 run after a 7-7 start. The run was sparked by an open spike by Morente and a block by the 5’2” de Jesus against the running spike of the 5’8” Abi Marano.
After the run, the Lady Eagles began to exploit the lethargic reception and setting game of the Lady Spikers, as a string of reception, setting, and service errors dug the grave for La Salle.
In the fourth set, Morente and de Jesus maintained aggression while Ahomiro stunned the La Sallian defense with her services and off-angle and off-speed hits as Ateneo erected a 19-11 lead.
The Lady Spikers tried to crawl back by attacking Ateneo’s zone one through Galang’s spikes to crawl back, 18-20, but the champs succumbed to spiking errors while Morente, Ahomiro, and Valdez pushed the Lady Spikers out for good, with the latter scoring the winning point of a combination play.
“They danced there. They were spiking two-way, left and right. They just jumped higher today,” commented Bundit, who coached his first game versus La Salle.
On the other hand, La Salle head coach Ramil de Jesus attributed their loss to rust and bad receptions.
“We had a hard time receiving that’s why our sets were predictable. Ateneo is the leading team in service and we have to prepare for their serves next game,” he commented.
“Everyone performed well today for Ateneo, and not just Valdez. We failed to anticipate that,” he added.
In the third set, the Lady Eagles began to exploit the lethargic reception and setting game of the Lady Spikers, as a string of reception, setting, and service errors dug the grave for La Salle. Photo by Martin San Diego
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