MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo overcame a fierce second-set challenge by University of the East as it hacked out a 25-16, 27-25, 25-17 victory yesterday to clinch a semifinal berth in the women’s division of the 72nd UAAP volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Dzi Gervacio scored 17 hits while Fille Cainglet put in 11 as the Lady Eagles notched a ninth win in 13 outings for a second Final Four appearance in three seasons.
“There’s nothing special about this. We made it through because we followed our game plan down to the letter,” said Ateneo coach Roger Gorayeb, also a multi-titled tactician of San Sebastian in the NCAA.
Ateneo hopes to cap its impressive elimination round showing with a win over a dangerous Adamson next week.
The Lady Eagles, however, needed to crawl back from a seven-point deficit in the second set, 12-19.
In men’s action, Far Eastern U edged stubborn La Salle, 20-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-13, to clinch a 10th win in 12 starts and the twice-to-beat bonus in the Final Four.
Ateneo, for its part, scraped past State U, 25-23, 29-27, 23-25, 25-20, to remain in the hunt for a semis slot.
In fencing, University of the East captured three gold medals to stay on track for a three-peat feat.
Jamie Nicanor trounced Ateneo’s Faye Garcia, 15-10, in the women’s foil finals to hand the Recto-based school its third gold.
The first two mints came from wins by the women’s saber team and Mary Rose Alfonso in the individual saber.