Lady Eagles near crown, now one game from perfect volley season

ATENEO’S Alyssa Valdez (No. 2) cracks the La Salle wall of (from left) Carol Ann Cerveza, Mika Reyes and Christine Soyud during Game 1 of their championship series last night. ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo made quick work of a helpless-looking rival Wednesday to move within a win of a perfect season and a second straight UAAP women’s volleyball championship.

The unbeaten Lady Eagles overpowered a La Salle side that played minus injured star Ara Galang, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, to take Game 1 of the Finals at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alyssa Valdez pumped in 25 points to lead the Lady Eagles to a 15th straight victory, the longest winning streak in a season since the Lady Spikers hacked out a 14-0 elimination sweep last year.

“The mindset of the team was on the game,” said Valdez. “What happened [to La Salle] was heartbreaking. Ara Galang is Ara Galang. She’s the player every team defends.”

Valdez recorded 22 kills, the last two bookending a 5-0 spurt that wrapped up the one-sided match.

The Lady Eagles, who hold a thrice-to-beat advantage, will shoot for a season sweep in Game 2 at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Ateneo’s Thai coach Tai Bundit said he wanted the Lady Eagles to stay positive, even as the Lady Spikers tried to do the same, but just couldn’t translate it on court.

The Lady Spikers had hoped to make Galang their rallying point, even wearing warm up shirts with their team captain’s name and number.

Galang suffered a horrific knee injury—tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and medial meniscus aside from sustaining bone bruises—during the Lady Spikers’ knockout semifinal win over National University.

Still, Galang refused to yield her role as the Lady Spikers’ leader as she sat on the team bench still in her playing uniform despite wearing a brace on her left leg.

The Lady Spikers again had a scare late in the third set when Camille Cruz landed badly in one play and went down clutching her right knee. The veteran open hitter left the Big Dome in crutches and underwent an MRI last night to check the extent of her injury.

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