Lady Cards escape Lady Atoms for last finals berth
UNIVERSITY of Baguio Lady Cardinals proved why they deserve to return to the finals after turning back Baguio College of Technology Lady Atoms in their do-ordie semis match –up.
The defending champion nearly shed a sweat after disposing the Lady Atoms in three sets, 25 -14, 2517, 25-16, in the in women’s volleyball of the Baguio – Benguet Educational Athletic League season 30 Tuesday evening at the SLU Prince Bernhard gym.
After crashing out in game one in a sorry three to one set loss against the Lady Atoms, the Lady Cardinals leaned on Mary Ann Attuban and Belle Belsa as it pummeled their rival to earn the last finals seat.
“We have to prove to them that we are the champions. It was an ugly game one but good thing they were able to recover and this prove a lot of things from our players that they don’t want to loss,” said coach Jhiesel Agudia.
On the brink of being eliminated, the Lady Cardinals started to pummel the Lady At-
oms defense starting the first set with a 12 – 4 lead before closing the first canto with an 11 point advantage.
Their momentum continued in the second set as Attuban, Belsa and Hyacinth Aquino fortify their attack that saw them erect a 12 – 7 lead midway that left the fight out of the Lady Atoms.
The Lady Atoms kept the score close in the third set at 11 – 10 but the women’s defending champion pulled away with an 8 – 3 run to ensure the win.
“We were just simply caught flat footed in our first game. Maybe it was fatigue because we only had Sunday to rest after losing to UC Lady Jaguars on Saturday, but it’s not an excuse. We made some adjustments tonight and the girls played hard enough to win,” added Agudia.
With the win, the Lady Cardinals faces a familiar foe in the Lady Jaguars who have been facing off for the past three years since Agudia took the coaching chores.
Incidentally, Agudia and UC Lady Jaguars head coach Clarissa Tolentino were teammates winning five of the six straight titles for UC from 2008 - 2012. Agudia also served as an assistant coach to Tolentino before moving to UB.
“Going up against UC, we hope to carry this momentum and hopefully the girls continue to play well,” quipped Agudia.
The Lady Cardinals will also seek their fifth straight title since 2014. Roderick Osis