10 March 2019
By Ardyn Gonzales
The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles now sit atop the standings after a straight-set sweep of the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, 25-21, 25-15, 28-26, in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament, Sunday, at the jampacked FilOil Flying-V Arena in San Juan.
Maddie Madayag frustrated the wingers of UP on the onset to establish an early cushion in the first set, 8-4. The Lady Maroons responded and stole the lead at 10-12 after an 8-2 run, but their own unforced errors killed their momentum as Ateneo pulled away to close out the opening set.
The Lady Eagles continued to punish UP in the second frame, maintaining a double-digit lead for a 2-0 advantage. They bombarded the Lady Maroons with 15 attacks in the set alone.
However, it was a different story in the third set as UP attempted to stage a comeback after erasing the 14-8 lead of Ateneo and dragged the Lady Eagles into neck-and-neck rallies. The Lady Maroons extended the set, and even reached set point, but UP committed crucial unforced errors as Deanna Wong’s one-two play completed the straight-set win.
Ateneo’s unfortunate standing in the receiving department did not matter at all as they had a decent 60% successful reception that helped Deanna Wong orchestrate the well-oiled offense of the Lady Eagles.
Maddie Madayag’s prowess in offense and defense was on point as she tallied 8 attacks and team-high 6 kill blocks for 14 markers. Kat Tolentino did not even score in the first set but still had 12 points in this match on top of 14 excellent digs. While Ponggay Gaston repeated her UAAP career-high 10 points to support Tolentino and Madayag.
The Lady Maroons were not in their usual selves as UP’s top scorers Isa Molde and Tots Carlos were held down to 10 and 6 points respectively — far from their usual performance in their past outings, including their previous win against the defending champions.
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