There was a time this season when the Ateneo De Manila University Lady Eagles didn’t look like championship favorites. That was just two weeks ago, but it seems like months have passed since then as the Lady Eagles have looked marvelous in their past two matches.
Ateneo dominated in every facet against the National University Lady Bulldogs and the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws. They met their two game losing streak and responded with consecutive great performances to bump their record up to 8-2, still at the top of the UAAP standings.
Reigning MVP Alyssa Valdez, however, is still conscious of her teams propensity to surrender errors. For the season, Ateneo have averaged 8.2 errors per set.
Against FEU, Ateneo managed to limit their errors to 16 in three sets – a shade over five per frame.
“We hope na ma-lessen namin ‘yung errors kasi super dami talaga. Coach Tai and coach Parley will make sure naman na we get more consistent during trainings,” said Valdez.
The consecutive wins haven’t gotten to the Lady Eagles heads apparently. Valdez refuses to acknowledge that her team has gotten back to their dominant form.
“It’s hard to say that we already got our momentum back. But that’s why we have teammates and coaches to continue supporting us. Sana we just keep playing as team and keep being happy,” Valdez expressed, adding that she can’t give a fair analysis of how she has performed in past matches. In their two losses, Valdez managed just 22 points combined on an inefficient spiking clip.
Valdez poured in 20 points in each of their past two wins on nearly 50% conversion rate on spikes.
“Di ko rin alam. It’s our coaches who can tell if okay ‘yung nilaro mo. As an athlete, you never want to be complacent din. I know na marami pa akong kailangan ma-improve sa depensa among other things. Sabi nga nila may pagka-perfectionist ka talaga dapat sa volleyball. That’s what makes volleyball fun. Kahit paulit-ulit mong ginagawa, iba-iba pa din ‘yung nangyayari.”
With the recent injury of sophomore wunderkind Maddie Madayag, Ateneo will need more of their heartstrong, happy spirit to stave off upsets heading into the Final Four.
Ateneo will most likely use the starting six they had relied on during the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference, with Kiwi Ahomiro playing middle hitter and Kim Gequillana occupying the utility position.
They take on the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses tomorrow, 4 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena.
UST defeated them once in the SVL and Valdez is wary of UST’s potential.
“You know UST players will give their everything, their hearts out talaga, This season has been a character building season for everyone. Ang daming bagong pangalan. I hope we just play great on Saturday.”
