Ateneo upends UP in V-League quarterfinals

Alyssa Valdez PHOTO BY TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Ateneo swooped in late as it turned back University of the Philippines, 25-18, 26-24, 20-25, 25-15, on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference at San Juan Arena.

Ateneo team captain Alyssa Valdez once again came through for the Lady Eagles as she put her stamp in the battle for Katipunan.

UAAP’s MVP scored on back-to-back kills to give the Lady Eagles the 24-15 match point and forced the Lady Fighting Maroons on an error to seal Ateneo’s 4-0 win-loss record.

V-League removed the games of the four eliminated teams in the group stages for the new win-loss records in the quarterfinals.

Valdez said they had to adjust every set, and sometimes every possession, to change their game plan against a young UP squad.

“We are changing our scheme every set, every point during the match,” Valdez said. “We had to adjust every time down.”

Ateneo was put to the mercy of a rejuvenated UP squad in the third set despite playing without veterans Kathy Bersola and Nicole Tiamzon as the Lady Eagles committed error after error.

Despite a lopsided spikes count, Ateneo had 59 while UP had 35, the Lady Eagles gave away 32 free points to the Lady Fighting Maroons while the latter only gave up 24.

Valdez once again came up big for Ateneo as she scored 29 points while sophomore Jho Maraguinot added 24.

Justine Dorog led the 0-4 UP with 14 points while Diana Carlos and Maria Molde pitched in 12 and 10 points respectively. RC