Ateneo focused on winning crown, not vengeance against La Salle

Photo by Tristan Tamatyo/INQUIRER.net

Ateneo and La Salle have transcended its rivalry from the parquet to the padded floor, and in terms of meetings  volleyball got basketball beat.

The Blue Eagles and Green Archers met a total of five times in the UAAP basketball finals, while the Lady Eagles and Lady Spikers will meet for their sixth straight time in the UAAP volleyball tournament.

La Salle has a slight edge in number of championships, 3-2, including the last one in Season 78.

Now the Lady Eagles have a chance to settle the score, but the current Lady Eagles are looking to simply exact revenge on the Lady Spikers.

What they want, though, is the championship.

“This isn’t really getting back at each other, besides the team last year was different from this year’s,” said skipper Jia Morado Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Morado and company entered their sixth straight UAAP finals after turning back Far Eastern University in the semifinals 25-22, 25-10, 16-25, 26-24, and are once more set to face La Salle for the big prize.

Ateneo, though, seems to have moved on from its Season 78 loss and as far as Season 79 is concerned, the Lady Eagles have won their two elimination games against the Lady Spikers.

“We’ve moved on and this year, and this title series, is our focus.”

This series is indeed a new one for both Ateneo and La Salle.

The defending champions practically lost its core of Mika Reyes, Ara Galang, Cyd Demecillo, Christine Soyud, and Carol Cerveza while Ateneo lost three-time MVP Alyssa Valdez and one-time Finals MVP Amy Ahomiro.

“I think we’ve adjusted enough to the departure of Ate Ly because we’ve played the elimination games and the Final Four without her,” said Morado. “I think we can play on our own. Of course we’ll miss Ate Ly’s spikes but, I think, anybody on our team right now can deliver.”