ARIANNE Argarin (right) keeps the ball in play after a fine dig by Perpetual Help teammate Joy Cases in yesterday’s game at Filoil Flying V Arena. INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Even with its top scorer riding the bench, Ateneo just had too much firepower in a 25-17, 25-16, 25-17 demolition of Letran yesterday as the Lady Eagles claimed the first quarterfinal berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 10 at Filoil Flying V Arena.
Alyssa Valdez sat out the entire second set in the lopsided match that saw the Lady Eagles pepper the Lady Knights with kills, 42-24, and cruise to their third straight win in Group A.
Rachel Ann Daquis tossed in 13 points, 10 coming off kills, and Fille Cainglet also had a similar 13-point performance to lead the unbeaten Lady Eagles.
In Group B, Arellano turned back University of Perpetual Help in a grueling four-setter, 25-19, 25-19, 25-27, 26-24, to notch its second win in three games.
Guest players Mary Jean Balse and Nerissa Bautista fired 19 points each to power the Lady Chiefs to the stunning upset of the reigning NCAA champions.
Valdez, the league’s early scoring leader with 47 points in two games, was fielded sparingly but still finished with eight points.
But it hardly mattered as several Lady Eagles stepped up, including Marge Tejada, who combined with Cainglet in tallying seven of the squad’s 11 service aces.
“Everyone in the team has the skills,” said Daquis, the former Far Eastern University star suiting up as a guest player for Ateneo.
“But the most important thing in a team is to have a leader. And that’s my role, to step up as a leader.”
Just like in the opening frame, the Lady Eagles zoomed to a 20-9 start in the second set and Daquis later wrapped it up with an emphatic hit.
Although the Lady Knights, who fell to 0-2, came out with more fire in the third set to move within two, 11-13, the Lady Eagles closed out with a 12-6 spurt capped by a Tejada ace and a Cainglet kill.