MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo showed the door to University of Santo Tomas in four sets, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23, 25-13, sealing its place in the 10th Shakey’s V-League First Conference on Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Lady Eagles return to the finals powered by their new Thai import Jeng Bualee, who joined the squad after San Sebastian fell out of contention in the quarterfinals.
Bualee hammered home a game-best 22 points, two from blocks, as Ateneo dominated UST from the get-go despite faltering in the second set, 23-25.
It didn’t take long before the Lady Eagles finished the Tigresses off for good as they built a 15-4 lead in the fourth set and just cruised to the win from there.
Alyssa Valdez, Ateneo’s resident scorer, finished with 15 points while guest player Rachel Ann Daquis and Fille Cainglet each chipped in 10.
The Lady Eagles await the victor of the National University-Adamson series, which went into game three to be played on Sunday.
Maika Ortiz led the Tigresses with 14 points while Carmela Tunay added 10, but guest player and alumna Aiza Maizo only had eight.
After a poor start, yielding 13-25 in the first set, the Tigresses surged to tie the match but couldn’t get the job done in the third set.