Ateneo Volleyball

It took Ateneo another five-setter but the Lady Eagles still did it, hacking out a 14-25, 25-20. 25-18, 19-25, 15-10 victory over the Navy spikers to clinch third place honors in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Eagles saved their best for last, winning six of the last seven points in the decider to win the thrilling one-hour, 54-minute encounter and sweep their best-of-three series for third in the season-ending conference.

It was a virtual repeat of Ateneo’s 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 14-25, 15-8 victory in the opener last Sunday as the Lady Eagles capped a sterling season highlighted by their title romp in the first conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Alyssa Valdez fired Ateneo’s last four points and finished with 23 points, three blocks and two service aces in a solid performance that netted her the best player of the game honors.

Fille Cainglet, who starred for Ateneo’s Game One win with 30 points, delivered 16 kills and wound up with 17 points while Gretchen Ho backed them up with 10 hits, including three blocks.

Cainglet also made 13 excellent digs in a solid back-up to the conference’s best digger Denise Lazaro, who had 28, while top setter Jamenea Ferrer made 57 excellent sets for the Eagles.

Dzi Gervacio added eight points while Ferrer finished with six hits for the Loyola-based squad.

Aiza Mazo hit 20 points for Navy while MicMic Laborte and Nene Ybanez added 16 and 13 points, respectively. Cecille Cruzada and Suzanne Roces also had 10 points a piece for the Sailors.

Navy actually outhit Ateneo, 63-51, but the Eagles proved steadier in the end, breaking out of a 9-all count with a stronger finishing kick.

“We’re happy to finish third (even without an import),” said Ateneo coach Parley Tupaz in Filipino. “We always start slow but we also managed to recover in time.”

It was Ateneo‘s third third place finish in the country‘s premier women’s volley league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa and Maynilad Water.

Ateneo grabbed a 10-9 lead in the fifth on a miscue by Laborte then Valdez took over with three crosscourt smashes that pierced through the Navy’s defense.

The Lady Eagles then pounced on another Navy error to reach match point 14-9, and although the Lady Sailors cut the lead down to four on a Cruzada hit, Valdez did what she does best, ramming in another kill. -DN

Philippine Army clipped Ateneo with its power game, fashioning out a 25-10, 25-21, 25-19 victory to move a win away from reaching the finals of the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Troopers stamped their class in the first set then thwarted the Lady Eagles’ gritty stand in the next two to complete the romp in the opener of their best-of-three semifinal match-up.

The top military team unleashed 48 spikes, nearly doubling Ateneo’s output of 26, as it extended its domination of the first conference champion, which it beat in four twice in the elims and the quarters.

Rachel Ann Daquis emerged the top scorer for Army, which boasts of a number of hitters, as she connected 14 of 32 spikes to preside the team’s attack.

Her last spike cut short Ateneo’s rally and ended the 64-minute romp in the first of two Final Four matches in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

Michelle Carolino had eight kills while Mary Jean Balse scored 12 hits, including three blocks.

Marietta Carolino added 10 points, including two services aces, while setter Cristina Salak chipped seven hits while finishing with 40 excellent sets.

Jamenea Ferrer actually bested Salak’s effort with her own 45 excellent sets but the Lady Eagles struggled in offense with Fille Cainglet, the league’s second leading scorer with a 16.8-point norm, held to just four hits.

Alyssa Valdez came through with nine attacks and ended up with 10 points for Ateneo’s lone double-digit output as Dzi Gervacio and Gretchen Ho managed to score seven and six points, respectively.

The Army-Ateneo match will be telecast at 2 p.m. today on NBN-4 and GMA-7′s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA LifeTV and GMA News TV.

Army hopes to further toughen up as goes for a sweep and the first finals berth in the season-ending conference of the league organized by Sports Vision on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the tournament, backed by Accel, Mikasa and Maynilad Water, takes a three-day break to give way to the UAAP taekwondo competitions. -DN

Ateneo used a strong start and a stronger finish in the fifth set to ground Air Force, 25-23, 11-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-9, and clinch the last Final Four berth in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Lady Eagles took the first five points in the decider, but wavered to enable the Airwomen to draw level at 7 before regrouping to win eight of the last 10 points, including four straight to wrap up the 1:55-hour playoff for the fourth semis slot in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

More importantly, it kept Ateneo’s bid for a sweep of the season’s titles alive.

But the first conference champion will have top seed Army as it Final Four opponent with San Sebastian and Navy clashing for the other finals seat in a pair of best-of-three duels starting Sunday.

Alyssa Valdez and Fille Cainglet dished out a combined 36-hit performance while Dzi Gervacio and Gretchen Ho stepped up to fire 14 and 11 points, respectively, in a game they could not afford to lose.

Grabbing the spotlight was Den Den Lazaro who bagged the best player of the game award in a rare feat by a libero as she came through with 13 digs that kept the ball in play for Ateneo.

The Lady Eagles were outthit, 59-61, and outblocked, 2-11, but made up for them with a superb all-around game with Jamenea Ferrer and Aerieal Patnongon adding five and three hits, respectively.

Air Force tapped the services of Joy Cases, who saw action for Maynilad, in place of Irish Patrona but the Lady Eagles overcame the challenge, coming out smoking in the fifth to gain the momentum before putting their act together in the clutch to pull off the win in the tournament backed by Accel, Mikasa and Maynilad Water.

Aiza Maizo hit 25 points, Cases had 19 and Jennifer Manzano and Liza Deramos scored 18 and 11 points, respectively, but the Airwomen failed to sustain their rally midway in the decider with Manzano making an attacking error to give Ateneo their 14th point before Cainglet scored on a service ace against Connie Recio to seal the victory.

The Ateneo-Air Force match will be telecast today starting at 2 p.m. on NBN-4 and also on GMA-7′s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA LifeTV and GMA News TV, according to the organizing Sports Vision. -DN