Ending an injury-riddled first round on a high note, the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) Lady Eagles routed the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Lady Engineers 25-16, 25-14, 25-13 in the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
The Lady Engineers drew energy from a predominantly TIP friendly crowd early to keep pace with the Lady Eagles. TIP even managed to jump ahead, 3-0, in the first set but the Lady Eagles easily recovered and then the blowout ensued. Alyssa Valdez anchored the Ateneo offense to a 15-7 lead. From there, Ateneo’s serving severely stifled the Lady Engineers leading to an easy first set win.
The defending UAAP champs again withstood an early push from their opponents and built a hefty 20-10 lead on the back of terrific attacking from Amy Ahomiro and consistently powerful serving. The ladies from Loyola dismantled TIP masterfully in the final set of the match. ADMU again built a ten-point lead, 19-9, and, from there, marched to their fifth win of the season.
The Tai Bundit-mentored squad easily imposed their offensive dominance in the match netting more attacks (35-12), block kills (8-3), and service aces (9-1). However, their aggressive play led to 27 errors. Limiting the free points they concede has been a problem for the Lady Eagles since last UAAP season.
“Sobrang unlucky ng elimination round namin. Hopefully things turn around for us in the upcoming round kasi it’s surely going to be tougher moving forward. Mas maraming malakas na kalaban and lahat sila nagpe-prepare talaga like us,” said team captain, Alyssa Valdez referring to the multiple injuries their team has had to endure this season. Ateneo adressed the injuries by adding guest player, Kayla Tianco-Williams who scored a point in limited time.
The two-time UAAP MVP fired off a game-high 16 points off 12 attacks, 2 block kills, and two aces. Bea De Leon followed with nine points, Maddie Madayag came off the bench and dished out eight points, and Amy Ahomiro finished with seven markers.
The Lady Eagles (5-0) topped the standings in Group B and were the only team to go undefeated in the first round of eliminations. In the Top 8 phase, Ateneo will face NU, Arellano, UP, and FEU with schedules for the matches yet to be announced.
The Scores:
ADMU (3) – Valdez 16, De Leon 9, Madayag 8, Ahomiro 7, Maraguinot 6, Gequillana 3, Tan 1, Dungo 1, Tianco-William 1, De Jesus (L), Lavitoria (L)
TIP (0) – Acuna 6, Espinosa 3, Mabayao 2, Layug 2, Fidel 1, Dela Cruz 1, Verano 1, Maturan 0, Madarezo 0, Rosales 0, Sarmiento (L)
