Lady Eagles spank Lady Tams
Games today (Filoil Flying V Centre) 8 a.m. – AdU vs DLSU 10 a.m. – NU vs FEU 2 p.m. – UE vs NU 4 p.m. – DLSU vs UP
Ateneo de Manila University soared to its eighth straight Final Four appearance with a hard-earned 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 21-25, 15-8 win over Far Eastern University yesterday in the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Center.
The Lady Eagles broke free from a tight contest in the early goings of the decider, posting a 10-5 cushion before fending off the Lady Tams’ spirited rally in the stretch en route to their eighth straight victory and ninth overall in 10 outings.
FEU threatened at 8- 10 off two denials but four costly errors proved fatal and led to the Lady Tams’ fifth setback against five wins.
Jhoana Maraguinot provided the firepower for Ateneo with 19 kills and three service aces to finish with 23 markers. Michelle Morente punched in 13 kills and one block for 15 points while collecting 18 digs and making 17 excellent receptions and Bea De Leon added 12 markers. Julia Morado tossed in 39 excellent sets.
Bernadeth Pons logged 19 points on 15 spikes and four denials and had 12 excellent receptions, while Toni Basas chipped in 14 points and Remy Palma added 12 markers for the Lady Tams.
“FEU really wanted to bounce back and they played well today. You cannot relax against FEU because they play good defense,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sherwin Meneses whose wards scored a repeat of their five-set win against FEU in the first round and eighth overall dating back to Season 76.
“We’re happy that we got a Final Four slot but for coach Tai, he doesn’t look into the Final Four or in our standings. We take it step by step and we prepare for every game.”
After taking the first two sets, Ateneo found it hard to finish off FEU.
The Lady Eagles saw themselves buried in a 5-10 hole and though they managed to close the gap at 12-13, Kyle Negrito scored on back-to-back aces to give FEU a comfortable 23-15 cushion to extend the set.
Eager to seal the win, the Lady Eagles stormed to an 11-6 edge in the fourth but the Lady Tamaraws fought back and grabbed a 20-18 lead en route to forcing the decider.
Earlier, University of Santo Tomas yielded the third set but put its act together in the fourth to prevail over also-ran Adamson University, 25-12, 25-18, 22-25, 25-19, and wrest solo third at 6-4.
After absorbing a third-set setback where they blew an 11-5 edge, the Tigresses raced to a 20-8 advantage in the fourth and shook off a late surge by the Lady Falcons to complete the bounce back from their loss to Ateneo last Wednesday.
Cherry Rondina paced the Tigresses with 18 points as EJ Laure came away with 14 markers, while Pam Lastimosa and Marivic Meneses contributed 11 points apiece.