Ateneo, UST gear up for rubber match

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo and UST will have two more days to toughen up and re-plot their battle plans in what promises to be a dogfight in their winner-take-all showdown for the ninth Shakey’s V-League Presented by Smart Championship at The Arena on Sunday.

The Lady Eagles kept their title-retention bid alive by gutting out a tough 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 28-26 decision over the Tigresses last Tuesday, forcing a sudden death in their best-of-three series for the first conference crown of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

UST, a former six-time champion making its return after a two-year hiatus, took the series’ opener, also in four, but failed to complete a sweep in the face of Ateneo’s spirited stand, setting the stage for the rubber match set at 4 p.m.

With their back against the wall, Ateneo coach Roger Gorayeb startled the Tigresses by fielding in Ella de Jesus in the fourth set with the talented Lady Eagle rising to the challenge by scoring four points, including the match-clinching spike.

For sure, there will again be surprises, from the bench or starters, with both coaches out to outwit each other in an attempt to deliver the goods for their respective teams.

Execution will also be the key with the Lady Eagles bucking a number of errors to pull through behind the combination of Alyssa Valdez, Fille Cainglet, Dzi Gervacio, Gretchen Ho, De Jesus, setter Jem Ferrer, liberos Den-den Lazaro and Beatriz Tan and Thai reinforcement and the league’s top blocker Phee Nok Kesinee.

“My players were tensed so we committed many errors,” said Gorayeb, referring to the 19 points his wards yielded through errors, including two straight by Valdez that enabled the Tigresses to seize a 24-23 lead in the fourth frame.

But Valdez redeemed herself quickly, scoring on a kill to force a tie then knocking down another point that made it 26-25 before the Tigresses took two of the next three points to wrap up the match.

UST actually gave away more points – 25 on errors, the last by setter Rhea Dimaculangan that shoved Ateneo to a 27-26 edge before De Jesus came through with that winner of a kill that kept the Lady Eagles on track for a second straight crown in the league backed by Mikasa and Accel.

UST coach Odjie Mamon hopes to motivate and draw the best from his hot-spiking combo of Judy Caballejo, Maika Ortiz, Maruja Banaticla and the tall Thai import Utaiwan Kaensing, who combined for 58 hits the last time out.

Former MVP Mary Jean Balse is also expected to fully recover from an injury and help strengthen UST’s frontline rotation and provide the experience and poise in crunchtime of a match tipped to go down-to-the-wire.