24 February 2019
By Ardyn Gonzales
The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles displayed their ‘heart strong’ mantra as they withstood the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws in an intense five-set thriller, 14-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-12, in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at the FilOil Flying-V Arena in San Juan.
It was a nightmare start for Ateneo with both their offense and defense not picking up. FEU capitalized and quickly mounted a 2-0 lead in the highly anticipated rematch of last season’s semi-finals.
However, the resilience and composure of the Lady Eagles were tested as they turned things around in the next three sets to refuse to get another loss from the Lady Tamaraws.
Ateneo and FEU went neck-and-neck in the deciding set with neither team pulling away. With a 12-all deadlock, the Lady Tamaraws unfortunately committed back-to-back unforced errors that paved the way for Kat Tolentino to complete the stunning come-from-behind win.
Tolentino unleashed 19 points to propel the Lady Eagles to a 2-1 win-loss record. Maddie Madayag chipped in 14 points – including those in the third and fourth set wherein Ateneo was stealing the momentum from FEU.
Ponggay Gaston and Jules Samonte also had a double-double in defense for a total of 33 excellent digs and 30 excellent receptions.
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