S87 Women's Volleyball: Ateneo escapes UE, 3-1

Games on Sunday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
9 a.m. - NU vs UST (Men)
11 a.m. - UP vs AdU (Men)
1 p.m. - UP vs AdU (Women)
5 p.m. - NU vs UST (Women)

Ateneo de Manila University erased a late six-point deficit in the fourth to down University of the East, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 27-25, and finish its UAAP Season 87 Women’s Volleyball Campaign with a win on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Trailing 16-22 in the fourth frame, a combination of Lady Warriors’ errors and hits by Lyann de Guzman, Alex Montoro, and AC Miner completed the comeback for the Blue Eagles.

Despite Ateneo’s comeback rally, UE still reached set point first at 24-21 but a crosscourt attack by De Guzman followed by two straight errors by UE forced a deuce at 24.

Khy Cepada answered with a kill to regain the advantage for the Lady Warriors but the rookie Montoro tied it anew with a smart placement shot before Miner hammered a quick spike for the 26-25 match point.

Then UE shot itself on the foot anew, committing its 33rd error of the game with its second ball hitting the antenna to give Ateneo the win after two hours and six minutes.

“We didn’t play so good in our technique but our team never gave up like in the last set, UE had a good opportunity to win that fourth set but our team continuously fought,” said Ateneo head coach Sergio Veloso.

Rookie Jihan Chuatico from Bacolod Tay Tung High School led the Blue Eagles in scoring with a career-high 16 points on 11 attacks, four blocks, and one ace, while De Guzman and Miner each contributed 13 points.

Montoro, who also came from Tay Tung, made her mark as well with 11 points including three aces while Taks Fujimoto orchestrated the offense with 25 excellent sets.

For the second straight season, the Blue Eagles finished with a 5-9 record in a challenging campaign hit by injuries and close losses. Ateneo also snapped a four-game slide in winning the finale.

“Syempre sobrang laki nga ng expectations ko this season especially sila Zel (Tsunashima), Sobe (Buena), JLo (Delos Santos) kung nakalaro sobrang iba yung team namin ngayon na very strong talaga but ayun hindi natin ineexpect ang mga nangyari but I’m still happy kasi naipakita pa rin namin na kahit konti lang kami, lumalaban kami,” said De Guzman, who also had 18 digs and 17 receptions.

On the other hand, UE finished the season winless - like its men counterparts. The last time both men and women teams of a school ended up winless in the collegiate volleyball tournament was back in Season 77 (2015) being the Red Warriors as well.

Van Bangayan paced UE with 16 points, while Cepada and Kayce Balingit got 14 and 13 points apiece with the latter tallying 15 receptions and nine digs as well.

Angelica Reyes also dazzled with 24 excellent digs and 12 receptions, while Riza Nogales also breached double digits in points with 10.

(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team