MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo rallied from 1-2 set down and survived a rash of faulty serves in the decider, eking out a 25-19, 24-26, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11 victory over Far Eastern U yesterday to get on track in the UAAP women’s volleyball at The Arena in San Juan.
Earlier, fancied National U toppled Adamson, 25-15, 25-22, 25-19, to seize the solo lead with a 3-0 mark.
The Lady Eagles kept the momentum of their big fourth set win and raced to four-, five-point leads in the fifth then hung tough behind Jhoanna Maraguinot, Bea de Leon and Michelle Morente in the stretch that saw them yield at least three points on errant serves.
But the Lady Tams failed to cash in on those late Ateneo miscues as they fumbled on crucial offensive and defensive plays, enabling the Lady Eagles to snare the victory, their second in three starts.
The Lady Eagles also responded well to assistant coach Sherwin Meneses, who took over the chores after head mentor Tai Bundit rushed back home to Thailand to attend the funeral of his mother-in-law.
“As what coach Tai has been telling them, it boils down to basics when a match goes to a fifth set,” said Meneses. “It’s a good thing that they were able to receive well, which is basic.”
The high-flying Maraguinot fired 18 points, including 16 attack points, Morente added 12 kills, three aces and two blocks on top of 14 digs and 12 excellent receptions.
De Leon backed them up with 11 markers while Maddie Madayag added 10 points for the Lady Eagles, who hammered in 52 attack points off 53 excellent sets by Jia Morado.
The Lady Eagles sat on a 9-4 cushion in the decider but the Lady Tams struck back to pull to within, 9-10, before the former pulled away again on back-to-back hits.
But the Morayta-based squad gained on Ateneo’s service faults to close in at 11-13 before the Lady Eagles took the next two points, the last a Kim Gequillana’s ace.
Bernadeth Pons came away with 18 points while Toni Basas had 15 and Jerrili Malabanan chipped in 13 markers for the Lady Tams, who dropped to 1-2.
Jaja Santiago fired 15 points, including seven aces, Aiko Urdas had eight while Jorelle Singh added seven points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to the straight-set romp.
The Lady Falcons fell to 0-3.