The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles are off to a good start in the second round with a morale-boosting victory over the struggling National University Lady Bulldogs, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17 in UAAP Women’s Volleyball, Saturday, at FilOil Flying-V Arena in San Juan City.
The last time Ateneo won against NU, Alyssa Valdez was still playing. But the Lady Eagles have ended their ‘curse’ against the Lady Bulldogs after pulling off a statement win.
Ateneo started strong in the first set with a quick 9-5 advantage. NU answered back and tied the game at 11-all, then pulled away to build a crucial 19-16 lead. However, a net error by the Lady Bulldogs followed by back-to-back service aces by Maddie Madayag forced another deadlock.
Both teams exchanged unforced errors for another tied set, 21-all, but series of errors from NU paved the way for Ateneo to pull away and seal the first set. The succeeding sets then saw the Lady Bulldogs crumbling as the Lady Eagles displayed their strong defense at the net alongside their lethal service game.
After a 16-all deadlock in the third set, Ateneo stunned NU with an 8-1 run highlighted by the four consecutive blocks of Bea De Leon on all the spike attempts of Jaja Santiago and Audrey Paran.
Both teams had 27 attack points, but it was the 11 blocks and 14 service aces that spelled the difference for the Lady Eagles. Team captain Maddie Madayag led Ateneo with 13 points including the team-high 6 service aces. Jules Samonte and Jhoana Maraguinot connived for 21 markers.
Ateneo successfully started the second round with a 2-0 slate, coming up with vengeance wins against the very same teams who gave them a disappointing 0-2 start in the first round.
Jaja Santiago was the lone NU player who scored in double-digits with 16 points.
Player of the Game: Maddie Madayag, 13 points (6 attacks, 1 block, 6 service aces).
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