Valdez, Maraguinot keep Lady Eagles unbeaten

MANILA, Philippines -- Ateneo overpowered Far Eastern University with a heavy dose of Alyssa Valdez and Jhoanna Maraguinot, 25-19, 25-14, 25-18, Saturday to remain undefeated in the Shakey's V-League Season 12-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

The power-hitting duo of Valdez and Maraguinot took turns in delivering the blows with the former firing away with a match-best 15 hits including 13 on kills while Maraguinot scattered 11 to power the Lady Eagles to an unblemished 6-0 (win-loss) record in the quarterfinals.

Valdez' spectacular performance also further strengthened her chances of snaring the MVP plum as she now has a league-best 139 hits she highlighted with 114 spikes, both conference highs.

"We played strong," said Ateneo coach Tai Bundit.

The reigning back-to-back UAAP champion tries to keep its undefeated streak going as it shoots for win No. 8 against a dangerous National University, which is fast turning out a title contender itself after slowly but surely getting stronger each match, next week.

Ateneo's victory came a week after it brought down NCAA titlist Arellano University with an emphatic 25-14, 25-17, 25-19 win.

It was a dominating performance by the Lady Eagles as they took them only an hour and 15 minutes to finish off the Lady Tams.

Not even former league MVP Jovelyn Gonzaga, who paced FEU with 11, could save the Morayta-based school from absorbing its second defeat against four wins.

It didn't help that FEU's blocking was non-existent as Valdez and Maraguinot found away top pierce through its plastic-thin net defense.