MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo shrugged off a first set defeat and recovered to take down National University, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17 for its sixth straight win in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament Saturday at Filoil Flying V Center.
The Lady Eagles ended the first round atop the standings with a 6-1 record while the Lady Bulldogs dropped to 2-5 after losing two of their last three games.
Bea De Leon was stellar for Ateneo in the fourth set scoring three straight points to give the Lady Eagles a 19-14 lead after NU threatened to cut the deficit with a 6-1 run to get to as close as 15-14.
Not done with showing her clutch genes, De Leon scored on another quick kill for the Lady Eagles’ 21-16 lead.
An NU error put Ateneo at the 24-17 match point before Deanna Wong tossed over the winning point.
Lady Eagles head coach Oliver Almadro said even though they’re atop the standings after the first round he knows that the second round is another landscape.
“The first round is really a tough one for us and we really learned a lot from here and I’m telling the players that going into the second round is a lot tougher,” said Almadro. “It won’t be easy for us going into the second round.”
Maddie Madayag led Ateneo’s offense with 17 points with De Leon adding in 13 while Ponggay Gaston and Kat Tolentino pitching in 10 points apiece.
Princess Robles had a game-high 18 points for the Lady Bulldogs.