Lady Eagles repulse Tigresses
Ateneo found University of Santo Tomas a resilient foe but still managed to pull off a dominating finish in a 25-22, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15 victory Sunday and grab a share of the early lead in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena.
Save for the last set where Alyssa Valdez and the Lady Eagles finally asserted their supremacy, the Tigresses kept clawing back and even authoritatively took the third frame to extend the match.
“UST gave us a good fight,” said Valdez after the defending champions picked up back-to-back wins to join rival La Salle on top.
Valdez fired 20 of her game-high 23 points off attacks, nearly half of the Lady Eagles’ 41 total.
Jhoanna Maraguinot, Amy Ahomiro and Bea de Leon also helped the Lady Eagles close out strong against a UST side that paraded a sparkplug in Cherry Ann Rondina.
“She’s really a fighter,” Valdez said of Rondina, the sophomore standout who led the Tigresses with 21 points built on 15 kills, three blocks and three aces. “She means business when she’s inside the court.”
Far Eastern University also had to deal with an improved University of the East before hacking out a 25-18, 25-11, 21-25, 25-14 decision for its first win in two games.
Heather Anne Guino-o and Toni Rose Basas pumped in 15 points each to lift the Lady Tamaraws past the Lady Warriors, the perennial cellar-dwelllers who managed to steal a set this time behind Shaya Adorador.
Both the Tigresses and the Lady Warriors remained winless in two outings.
Maraguinot fired 12 points for the Lady Eagles, who pulled away at 20-12, before halting a late UST rally in the second frame.
The Tigresses kept on fighting behind Rondina and zoomed to 13-6 advantage in the next frame on the way to a 25-21 set win.
But the Lady Eagles recovered in the fourth, unloading a five-point cluster that turned a slim 8-7 lead into a 13-7 spread.
In men’s action, National University walloped La Salle, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20, to share top spot at 2-0 with idle Ateneo.
Rookie James Natividad tossed in 14 points and Kim Malabunga added 13 to power the Bulldogs, last season’s runner-up.
The Archers wound up tied at 1-1 with University of the Philippines, which triumphed over UST, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19, 25-21, behind Wendel Miguel’s 22 points.
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