Facing a once undefeated foe, the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles exerted their mastery of the National University Lady Bulldogs, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Lady Eagles claimed their first win over NU since the second round of the UAAP Season 78 Women’s Volleyball. Ateneo also forced a three-way tie for second with identical 6-3 records with NU and the FEU Lady Tamaraws.
A strong serving Ateneo and wasteful NU opened the match. The Lady Eagles took the first set via a furoius comeback, erasing a 19-16 NU lead to grab a 23-21 cushion. A pair of NU errors gave capped Ateneo’s first set win.
The Lady Eagles then broke away in the second frame, delivering four aces in a run that gave them a decisive 18-10 lead. By the third set, an NU collapse seemed inevitable even if they held an 11-7 lead. Powered by their ruckus crowd, the Lady Eagles slowly crawled back, stifling NU at the net and rattling off a 17-6 run to close the match.
The Lady Eagles dominated on the serve, nabbing aces, and on the net, collecting 11 blocks.
“We really prepared hard against NU. Malaking bagay ‘to for our confidence kasi this was a win that I think we really needed,” said Ateneo team captain Maddie Madayag, who led the Lady Eagles with 13 points.
Jules Samonte added 11 markers while Jho Maraguinot added 10 to pace the Lady Eagles.
Ateneo takes on the resurgent UE Lady Warriors (2-7) on Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Jaja Santiago was the lone Lady Bulldog in double-digits, managing 16 markers.
After sweeping their first five matches, the Lady Bulldogs have now lost three of their four games.
National U faces the Adamson Lady Falcons (3-5) also on Wednesday.
The Scores
ADMU (3) – Madayag 13, Samonte 11, Maraguinot 10, De Leon 9, Tolentino 8, Wong 1, Gaston (L), Lo (L)
NU (0) – Santiago 16, Doria 6, Paran 4, Sato 3, Singh 3, Urdas 1, Chavez 0, Valdez (L)
