Lady Eagles face off with Alyssa, Morado

Games Wednesday (The Arena, San Juan City) 4 p.m. – PetroGazz vs BanKo-Perlas 6 p.m. – Creamline vs Ateneo-Motolite

Ateneo-Motolite drew inspiration from the “Atin ‘To” battle cry of the University of the Philippines (UP) men’s basketball team to advance to the finals of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Open Conference Sunday night at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Lady Eagles clawed back from a two-set deficit to outlast in heartbreaking fashion the BanKo Perlas Spikers, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 27-25, 21-19, in the rubber match of their best-of-three semifinals.

“We were inspired by that (mantra). If you believe that it’s ours, it will be given. And true enough, (it was given),” said skipper Bea de Leon, who finished with 13 points. De Leon admitted they were second-guessing themselves in the first two sets, allowing BanKo Perlas to dictate the tempo with Nicole Tiamzon and Dzi Gervacio in front of its assault. “There was a bit of doubt in our heads (in the first two sets), but when the third set came, we just reminded ourselves that we have nothing to lose,” said De Leon, whose team was fresh off a 25-21, 2520, 26-24 Game 2 triumph on Saturday. They lost Wednesday’s Game 1, 25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 15-6. Ateneo-Motolite’s win set up a best-of-three championship meeting with fancied Creamline starting tomorrow. Incidentally, the Cool Smashers are spearheaded by former Ateneo standouts Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado.

De Leon said they must set aside the fact that they know each other outside the court.

“For me it’s about standing in the court with those people, those legends of their own and knowing that we can do it,” De Leon said.

Against the Perlas Spikers, the Lady Eagles held their composure in the crunch by trading strong smashes, solid blocks and deep digs to extend the match to a decider.

In the end, it was BanKo Perlas who crumbled after an overset from Fen Emnas gave Ateneo the crucial 20-19 lead. Ponggay Gaston stepped up with a crosscourt kill to seal the two-and-ahalf hour victory.

Kat Tolentino paced the Lady Eagles with 20 points built on 17 hits and three blocks while Gaston fired 14 of her 15 points at the attack lane. Maddie Madayag finished with 14 points including seven blocks even as Jules Samonte chipped in 12 points.