Win vs La Salle gives Ateneo golden double: Lady Eagles eye sweet sweep

Game today (Mall of Asia Arena)

3:30 p.m. – DLSU vs AdMU (women’s finals)

MANILA, Philippines - After finally breaking through last year, holders Ateneo Lady Eagles seek to add another jewel today when they gun for a perfect winning campaign in the UAAP Season 77 women’s volleyball wars.

The high-flying Lady Eagles soared to the cusp of greatness last Wednesday when they thumped the injury-hit La Salle Lady Spikers at the start of the finals, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, and a repeat in the 3:30 p.m. match at the Mall of Asia Arena will complete a 16-game sweep of the tournament – something that’s never been done in women’s volley before.

Raising the trophy with a spotless record was last pulled off by La Salle way back 2003 when the Lady Spikers swept the 14-game elims and were automatically crowned champions back then.

A triumph for the Lady Eagles will also put Ateneo in the elite roster of “golden double” achievers. The Blue Eagles had done their part in winning a first-ever plum last week and it’s the turn of their women’s counterparts to complete the job and make the Katipunan-based school the first to sweep men’s and women’s play since University of Santo Tomas in 2009.

“Now that we have one game to go, I think the girls will go for it,” said Ateneo team manager Tony Boy Liao, who himself had set the goal of an immaculate title drive.

“Hindi natin masasabi pero (We can’t predict for sure but) we’re gonna play our hearts (out) on Saturday,” said Ateneo star Alyssa Valdez, who is set to receive her second straight MVP plum. “We’ll never know what’s gonna happen and it’s really up to Him na eh. We’ll see.”

Liao is banking on coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit’s proven motivational techniques to get the players into the right mindset.

“Laging sinasabi ni coach Tai (Coach is always preaching): If they believe they can do it, they can do it. That has been his philosophy. Kung si Alyssa at teammates nya ay may paniwala na kaya nila, sa tingin ko, kaya nilang tapusin yan sa Sabado (If Valdez and her teammates believe they can do it, they will finish it off today),” Liao said.

The Lady Eagles enter as overwhelming favorites against a La Salle side badly affected by piling injuries. Star Ara Galang tore her ACL, MCL and medial meniscus in the stepladder semis rubbermatch and will sit out for eight months. She was joined in the disability club by Camille Cruz, who suffered ACL and LCL tears late in the finals opener.

Bundit is also guarding his wards from complacency.

“Lagi niya kaming nire-remind sa training na (He keeps reminding us during training that) we’re not yet there, we have a lot of things to improve on, a lot of things to learn still. And it works,” said Valdez.

Bloodied but unbowed, La Salle is dead-set on stopping the Ateneo rampage and staying alive.

“May pag-asa pa naman (It’s not all lost yet), do or die na yan,” said Cyd Demecillo, who paced the Lady Spikers with 10 points in the opener.

“Bilog ang bola. Wala kaming dapat ikatakot. (Anything can happen in a game. We have nothing to fear). Nothing to lose kami (We take a nothing to lose approach),” she further started, adding they will look at the unfortunate injuries as “motivation” to fight back.