ATENEO LADY EAGLES STUN NU; LADY TAMS WIN AGAINST ADU
By Ardyn Gonzales
1 October 2016
After losing beach volley veterans Alyssa Valdez and Bea Tan to graduation, returning Ateneo star Michelle Morente and Kim Gequillana tallied their first win after defeating Aiko Urdas and Roma Doromal of NU Lady Bulldogs 26-24, 21-16 in Day 1 of the UAAP Season 79 Beach Volleyball Tournament at MOA Sands by the Bay.
It was a close first set with Ateneo and NU both exchanging errors and attacks tying the game at 20-all.
But the experience of Morente—who also partnered Valdez in UAAP Beach Volley back in Season 76—prevailed as she answered all the attacks of Urdas and Doromal to maintain four set points on their side. The exciting first set ended in favor of Ateneo after an attack error from NU.
It was almost the same story in the second set until Morente and Kim G. pulled away and scored consecutive points to get a 6-point lead, 20-14. The lefty Doromal tried to keep up with Ateneo even saving two match points, but a hit from Morente gave the win to the Lady Eagles.
Meanwhile, after being defeated by the defending champion La Salle earlier, the Lady Tams bounced back and bagged their first win against the Lady Falcons 21-16, 21-13.
The duo of Bernadette Pons and Kyla Atienza—who won in different beach volleyball leagues together including the third-place finish in the 2016 Philippine Superliga Challenge Cup Beach Volleyball Tournament—escaped Adamson’s Jema Galanza and Bernadette Flora in straight sets.
Ateneo and FEU now have a 1-1 record and will face each other in Day 2 of UAAP Beach Volley still at MOA Sands by the Bay.
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