Block party: Maddie Madayag surprised by record-setting showing in tough Ateneo win

MANILA, Philippines—There are some days when something special was bound to happen even if the person about to do the feat is completely unaware of that achievement.

Enter Ateneo’s Maddie Madayag.

The Lady Eagles’ thrilling 19-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-11 win over University of Santo Tomas Wednesday in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament was made even special by a couple of record-setting performances.

Madayag’s 11 scoring blocks were the most in the Final Four era, a period of time from Season 56 to present while UST’s Cherry Rondina’s 35-point outburst is the highest single-game scoring performance of a Golden Tigress in the same time frame.

READ: UAAP volleyball: Ateneo hikes streak to 7 after comeback win over UST

“Serious? 11 blocks? I didn’t know that [I had that many],” said Madayag Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Center. “I’m speechless, I don’t know what to say. I just played my game I guess and contribute whatever I can for the team.”

“I just gave it my all.”

Madayag’s historic block came in the fourth set when she denied, of all people, Rondina for the Lady Eagles’ 23-20 lead.

Ateneo’s anchor, though, knew how much it takes to stop Rondina and it was her respect for the opponent that pushed Madayag to the best of her abilities.

Madayag ended the game with 23 points to lead the Lady Eagles to their seventh straight win and a league-leading 7-1 record.

“Sisi’s a really good player, she’s very good, she’s knows what to do,” said Madayag. “You can see she’s very experienced. You have to respect your opponent, and when you know what they will do you should know that you should do better.”