MANILA, Philippines — Ateneo arrested a three-game tailspin by pouncing on National University errant ways 25-20, 25-21, 27-25 on Sunday in the UAAP season 75 women’s volleyball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.
The Lady Eagles racked up 36 points off the Lady Bulldogs’ errors which allowed them to wrap the game up in just three sets and keep their grip of the second place with a 7-3 card.
“We wanted to maintain the number two spot. They learned the lesson the hard way,” said head coach Roger Gorayeb, as Ateneo took time to recover from the defeat to La Salle in the first round.
The Lady Eagles were more energized in Fille Cainglet’s return from an ankle injury but it was Dzi Gervacio who stepped up big, unloading a team-best 13 markers, including four aces.
Cainglet set up Ateneo for the clincher with a quick hit that broke the 25-all deadlock in the third and final set. A block from Gretchen Ho, who had eight points, finished the job.
League-leading scorer Alyssa Valdez struggled with a season-low 10 points, but had two blocks.
The Lady Bulldogs, who dropped to sixth in the standings with a 5-5 card, could have made it closer had it not been for the surplus of errors, which keyed in their demise.
In the second set alone, NU gave away 13 points on just unforced errors.
Standing a point away from defeat in the third set– NU, though, would not back down easily and scored four straight points to keep the game alive before Ho and Cainglet came to Ateneo’s rescue.
Dindin Santiago led the Lady Bulldogs with a game-high 14 points, while Aiko Urdas added 13.