Lady Eagles brace for tougher 2nd round battle

MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo has secured its spot after the first round of Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament with no tribulations.

The Lady Eagles soared to a 6-1 record with all those wins coming in successive order, but they know the Lady Eagles are in for a tougher fight once the second half of the tournament starts.

“It’s about to get harder but our mindset is we know that the first round is over so now we have to work doubly harder,” said Bea De Leon after their 23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17 win over National University Saturday.

Ateneo’s lone loss of the season came in the hands of defending champion De La Salle, 25-14, 25-17, 16-25, 25-19, before racking six straight wins to end the first round.

Tolentino said the other teams in the league would come out swinging in the second round and the only thing they can do is perform better than what they did in the first half of the tournament.

“I think the second round will be harder because of the adjustments of the teams and I know that the first round was really a team effort,” said Tolentino who had 10 points against the Lady Bulldogs.

“We earned this by working together and following the system and we have to continue that while also adjusting because the other teams will come out stronger,” added Tolentino.

“Whatever we did in the first round we have to double that,” said De Leon, who finished with 13 points against NU. “The other teams are about to peak and the teams are going to fight harder. We have to focus on what needs to be done.”