There isn’t much that to be said with how Ateneo lost to La Salle in its first meeting since Season 79’s finals—the Lady Eagles just fell short.
The Lady Eagles managed to hold on to a big third set lead to extend the match to four sets but the defending champion Lady Spikers proved too much for the depleted Ateneo lineup.
Captain Maddie Madayag said they weren’t able to display the much-needed maturity in a high stakes game that 18,537 witnessed inside Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament.
“It was obvious that the team wasn’t enjoying the game as it should be, there was no happiness in the play whatsoever,” said Madayag in Filipino after her team lost in four sets, 25-20, 25-17, 24-26, 25-20.
“The team has to learn from its mistakes. They have to get back up after falling down, because when an error is committed, more errors will follow. We really need to have maturity.”
Ateneo played without its starting libero Dani Ravena who is recovering from her appendectomy operation on Tuesday, and opposite hitter Ponggay Gaston, and the diminished lineup proved to be a factor in the loss that saw the Lady Eagles slide to a 4-3 record.
“Even though Dani is just a rookie, she’s a crucial player in our rotation, and of course Ponggay too because she subs in for Jules [Samonte], so when one player has a bad game we don’t have a substitute,” said Madayag.
The Lady Eagles enjoyed a 21-11 lead in the third set but squandered it all and allowed the Lady Spikers to take the 24-22 match point before Madayag and Kat Tolentino teamed up to extend the match to the fourth set.
La Salle held off Ateneo in the fourth set when Kianna Dy gave the Lady Spikers a 24-19 lead with a block on Tolentino before Samonte ironically awarded the victory to the Lady Spikers when her final serve hit the net.
“We know our lapses, so we’ll get back to training and fix what needs to be fixed,” said Madayag who had 10 points in the loss.