Ateneo Lady Eagles Wins Opener Of UAAP Women’s Volleyball Finals

The Ateneo Lady Eagles celebrate after their four set win against the De La Salle University Lady Spikers in the 74th UAAP Women's Volleyball Finals at The Arena in San Juan

The Ateneo Lady Eagles defeated the De La Salle University Lady Spikers 23-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-17 to win the opening game of the 74th UAAP Women's Volleyball Finals at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Ateneo Lady Eagles handed the De La Salle University Lady Spikers its first loss of the season to take the first game of the UAAP women’s volleyball finals 23-25, 28-26, 25-23, 25-17 at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan. Technically, the series is tied at 1-1 after the DLSU Lady Spikers swept the eliminations. It was the first time that the Lady Eagles had beaten DLSU since December 2007. After dropping the first set, the Lady Eagles needed two come from behind wins to record the win. In the second set, Ateneo was trailing 22-19 but came back to even take set point behind a kill by skipper File Cainglet who scored off a block. Cainglet herself finished off the second set 28-26 with back-to-back hits.

The Lady Eagles found themselves fighting back again in the third set 20-16 to level at 22 apiece behind the kills of rookie Alyssa Valdez and Dzi Gervacio. It was a different outcome in the fourth set, however, as the Lady Eagles sustained the momentum of their two come-from-behind wins in the two previous sets easily dispatching the defending champions to win the match. After a 5-5 standoff, Ateneo raced to a 16-7 lead which was never threatened. La Salle tried to fight back with five straight points but to no avail as the Lady Eagles were determined to finish off the Lady Spikers.

Leading the charge for the Lady Eagles were Alyssa Valdez and File Cainglet who had 24 points and 19 points and three aces, respectively. Also scoring in double figures for Ateneo were Dzi Gervacio with 12 points and Gretchen Ho with 10. La Salle coach Ramil De Jesus admitted that the second set was a big loss for the Lady Spikers. The good game of the rookies was negated by the struggles of the veterans.

Top scoring for the Lady Spikers was Abigail Marano with 17 points and Michelle Gumabao and Victonara Galang with 14 apiece. Despite the loss, the DLSU Lady Spikers still hold a twice-to-beat advantage. Game 2 is set on Saturday, February 25 also at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena.