UAAP: ‘Heartstrong’ Lady Eagles beat Lady Spikers anew, force decider for Season 76 volleyball title

(Update 2 - 6:56pm) The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles are still alive.

The third-seeded team after the elimination round continues to buck the odds, stretching the UAAP Season 76 women’s volleyball Finals series to one last game, after beating defending champions DLSU Lady Spikers, 25-21 25-23 18-25 16-25 17-15, Wednesday at the MOA Arena.

Number one seed La Salle, armed with a thrice-to-beat advantage after sweeping the elimination round, would have clinched a four-peat with a win, but the Katipunan-based squad showed grit in the fifth set and engineered a winner-take-all match on Saturday.

Ateneo had earlier won game one, 25-17 23-25 25-13 25-20, last Wednesday, but La Salle roared back in game two, 25-14 25-20 19-25 26-24. Prior to the Finals, the Lady Eagles needed to beat Adamson in a do-or-die game, and then dispatch NU twice in a row, as part of the stepladder postseason format.

Reigning MVP Alyssa Valdez pumped in 22 points, 19 off spikes, to lead the Lady Eagles.  Entering the final game of the championship series, Valdez shared that it’s all a matter of self-belief. “We need to believe in ourselves. Nagsastart naman talaga yan sa sarili. “Kung wala ka rin confidence, lagi kang magooverthink at mawawala ka sa focus.”

La Salle entered the first technical timeout of the first set with a slim 8-7 advantage due to a patented Aby Marano running spike. The Lady Spikers were able to balloon their lead to four at 16-12, before Ateneo slowly bounced back and regained their composure.

Later on in the set, Michelle Morente’s back-to-back block-piercing attacks put the Lady Eagles up 21-19. With a cross-court winner by Valdez and Amy Ahomiro’s commanding front-row presence issuing well-timed denials, the Katipunan-based squad drew first blood, 25-21.

The second set featured another La Salle four-point lead squandered by Ahomiro’s craftiness from the front-row. With the co-captains of Ateneo, Ella de Jesus and Valdez relentless in their attacking, the Lady Eagles managed a slim 16-15 lead by the technical timeout. DLSU managed to regain the lead, care of Marano’s front-row blocks at 19-17, but the continuous attacks of de Jesus coupled by Ahomiro’s defense brought the Lady Eagles right back into the picture. Ateneo was awarded the set point at 24-21 due to a La Salle miscommunication error. They then sealed the set at 25-23 due to a Morente service ace and an Ahomiro front-row kill.

Both squads began the third set with a back-and-forth affair. That was until Ara Galang sparked La Salle for four consecutive points coming from a series of down-the-line kills that positioned them ahead at 16-12. La Salle cruised to a 25-18 victory with three straight points from Cyd Demecillo and a front-row finish from Mika Reyes.

The fourth set displayed an offensive explosion from Galang as Ateneo had no answer from the open spiker. La Salle pushed their lead to nine at 19-10 as everything connected cleanly for the Lady Spikers. The Taft-based squad captured the fourth at 25-16 and forced a fifth and final set with a commanding denial on a Valdez attack.

La Salle benefitted a three-point lead at 9-6 due to Galang’s consistency and Kim Fajardo’s cerebral decision-making.  Galang shined through for the Lady Spikers with a deceptive off-speed attack and a winner that grazed the line to pushed La Salle ahead, 12-8. But three straight points from Ahomiro and her consistency from the service zone propelled the match into a 14-all deadlock.

Despite La Salle tallying the championship point at 15-14, consecutive attacks from Valdez and Morente followed by an error on Fajardo then sealed the match for Ateneo, 17-15.

Although Galang’s game-high of 28 points put the Lady Spikers in good position to win, the well-balanced scoring of Ateneo dampened her offensive barrage. This can be attributed to Julia Morado’s 48 excellent sets, which fed the ball continuously to Ateneo’s spikers.

The decider in the series is set for Saturday. - AMD, GMA News