The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles continue their Cinderella run in the 13th Shakey’s VLeague Collegiate Conference after pulling off a huge upset against number one seed Far Eastern University in four sets, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19, 25-23, in Game 2 of their best-of-three semifinals series Wednesday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Ateneo’s magical run started in the quarterfinals, where they triumphed a do-or-die match with San Sebastian College-Recoletos Lady Stags last Saturday to book the last semis slot of the tourney.
Four Lady Eagles scored in double figures, with Bea De Leon leading all players with 20 points off 14 kills. Captain Michelle Morente produced 15, while Kim Gequillana and Ana Gopico scored 12 and 10, respectively. Jia Morado had 54 excellent sets.
The Lady Eagles had the command majority of the of the curtain-raising set, leading by as much as six, 23-17, behind Morente and De Leon. The Lady Tams, meanwhile, found an offensive spark in Jerrili Malabanan and Remy Palma to close within a point, 24-23, but a Gequillana attack propelled Ateneo to take the set, 25-23.
In a tight affair in the next frame that saw an 18-all knot, FEU came closer to wrapping up the set, 23-21, but Ateneo were quick enough to recover and sent the set to a deuce, 24-all. The Lady Tams, behind Palma and Celine Domingo, scored twice off an attack and an ace to go even at 1-1, 26-24.
Ateneo played catch-up in the third canto, needing to overcome an 8-5 lag and come out on top, 20-18, by scoring off FEU’s errors. From there, the Lady Eagles went on fire, outscoring the Lady Tams, 7-1, behind the 1-2 punch of De Leon and Gopico in the frontline, to go up two sets to one, 25-19.
The Lady Eagles tailgated FEU once more in the fourth and final set. Down 15-10, Ateneo surged back via De Leon, Gopico, Juliane Samonte, and Morente, to send the set to a 21-all knot. From there, FEU lost composure, paving the way for Ateneo to complete a come-from-behind finish, 25-23, and seal the deal.
“Siguro yung tiyaga ng mga bata at sacrifice sa ensayo nag-pay off,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sherwin Meneses regarding Ateneo having booked a return trip to the Finals. “Yung mga bata gusto manalo.”
Toni Rose Basas led the charge for the Lady Tamaraws with 17 points off 16 attacks.
With the win, Ateneo will go back to the Collegiate Conference Finals and set up a rematch of last year’s Finals series against the National University Lady Bulldogs. The Final series will begin on Monday, September 12.
The Scores:
ADMU (3) – De Leon 20, Morente 15, Gequillana 12, Gopico 10, Morado 7, Gaston 2, Samonte 2, Lavitoria (L), Tan (L).
FEU (1) – Basas 17, Palma 13, Domingo 9, Malabanan 8, Villareal 6, Guino-o 5, Negrito 4, Cayuna 0, Hernandez 0, Duremdes (L), Atienza (L).
