BDL shines in Ateneo’s Game One triumph over UST

For the first time since Alyssa Valdez came back from an extended rest, another Lady Eagles topped the score sheet.

Bea De Leon turned in a game-high 16 points and led the Ateneo De Manila Lady Eagles to a straight set victory over the University of Sto. Tomas Tigresses 27-25, 25-16, 25-17 in Game One of their best-of-three Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference semifinals series at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Tomasinas forced a hectic pace in the opening set, even dragging the set to a deuce with impeccable offensive and defensive play. That, however, turned out to be the highlight of their game as they played lackadaisical volleyball for the rest of the match. Ateneo’s serves baffled the UST back line, leading to a multitude of free balls heading towards the Lady Eagles’ court.

Ateneo tallied glaring advantages in all the scoring skills, out-attacking (35-21), out-blocking (11-7), and out-serving (11-5 aces) their foes from España. UAAP MVP, Alyssa Valdez paced De Leon’s assault with 15 markers, while Kiwi middle hitter Amy Ahomiro contributed 10 points.

Valdez, in the post-game presser, addressed her team’s slow starts. “It’s more with the players not really with how we train because we don’t really do anything differently [to compensate for the slow starts]. Kasama na doon ‘yung fatigue with all our school works and then nagkakasakit pa ‘yung iba because of the crazy weather. It’s tough talaga. Hopefully we can start better in the coming matches,” Valdez said.

In their last outing against the NU Lady Bulldogs, Ateneo surrendered the first set but came back and took all the proceeding sets convincingly. Ateneo has won all their nine outings in the tournament.

Sophomore open hitter, Ej Laure topped all Tigresses with nine points, her U23 teammate, Ria Meneses turned in seven points while Jessey De Leon had six markers in UST’s fourth loss this season. UST’s lead winger, Mela Tunay turned in 0 point performance as she was suffering from multiple finger injuries.

Game Two will kick off tomorrow at 3 p.m. at the same venue. Should Ateneo win, the Lady Eagles will be through to the Finals where they will face the winner of the NU-FEU series.

The Scores

Ateneo (3) – De Leon 16, Valdez 15, Ahomiro 10, Maraguinoy 8, Gequillana 5, Tan 3, Tianco-William 0, De Jesus (L)

UST (0) – Laure 9, Meneses 7, De Leon 6, Lastimosa 4, Cortez 2, Sandoval 2, Cabanos 2, Francisco 1, Teope 0, Tunay 0, Verutiao 0, Rasmo (L), Dizon (L)