Lady Eagles wait for finals date

The Ateneo Lady Eagles have completed a sweep of the classification round of the UAAP Women’s Volleyball tournament. For now, they are safely nestled in the highest perch of the tree and will watch the rest of the teams slug it out to determine their finals foe.

This lofty position is a reversal of their third place finish in the eliminations last year when they had to scrape and scratch in the stepladder playoffs. They won over Adamson, bucked National University’s second place twice-to-beat edge and lastly De La Salle University’s thrice-to-beat fulcrum because of a sweep of the elims.

There’s no question there will be pressure on the Lady Eagles to close out the season with a defense of their crown. The stress of having to carve its own classification round sweep is over but the real test is in the playoffs where all teams seem to kick it up several notches in terms of determination and drive.

School sports are a different athletic arena because community pride is at stake and many players look at these opportunities as a once in a lifetime occurrence. A professional athletic season could offer many conferences or tournaments. A school sports career provides at most five years of trying to write the championship stories the communities will talk about for ages.

For now, the more engaging story is the race and jostling for position by the other teams.

La Salle will wait for the outcome of the game of NU against either University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, University of Santo Tomas and Adamson. The Lady Spikers remain a formidable crew, losing only twice and only to the Loyola ladies. La Salle will also have a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs.

With strikers Mika Reyes, Ara Galang, Carol Ann Cerveza, Desiree Cheng, Cyd Demecillo and setter Kim Fajardo, La Salle stands as the biggest threat to Ateneo’s drive to retain its crown.

NU is in transition with coach Roger Gorayeb who was hired almost at mid-season. At the start, NU, even with the lanky Jaja Santiago and veteran Myla Pablo, couldn’t flow cohesively and was being rolled over by the other teams. But Gorayeb’s presence adds a proven winner to the NU volleyball circle, having won in the NCAA with San Sebastian and securing two runner-up finishes with Ateneo.

It won’t be easy for any of the still surviving teams to topple NU. Adamson was nipped by the Lady Bulldogs last Wednesday, while UP couldn’t finish the job against FEU despite winning the first set. You need consistency to win tournaments, the ingredient teams chasing Ateneo and La Salle have been groping for all season long. NU appears to be the only team in the mix that could join La Salle and Ateneo’s party.

If the heavy tweeting during last Wednesday’s La Salle-Ateneo showdown and the close to 14,000 fans that trooped to the Mall of Asia Arena are indicators, then volleyball has again sparked the passion of the fans.

The windup of the UAAP tournament will stir the drink even more.