20 March 2019
By Ardyn Gonzales
For the second time this season, the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles pulled off another come-from-behind five-set win, this time against the University of Sto. Tomas Lady Tigresses, 19-25, 22-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-11, to strengthen their hold of the solo spot in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament, Wednesday, at the FilOil Flying-V Arena in San Juan.
UST shocked the Lady Eagles in the first two sets as Sisi Rondina and Eya Laure punished their floor defense with unstoppable attacks for a 2-0 advantage over the league-leading Katipunan squad.
However, the familiarity of Ateneo with a 0-2 deficit came into play as they fought back in the third set. The Lady Eagles were already at set point, 24-22, when two consecutive unforced errors and another kill from Rondina put UST at match point, but team captain Bea de Leon took over as she propelled Ateneo to extending the match.
The Lady Tigresses regained control in the fourth frame after mounting a 17-12 cushion, but the Lady Eagles slowly caught up and stunned UST for a one-point lead. With the offense of UST becoming predictable, Ateneo’s defense prevailed as they forced a decider.
Momentum stayed with the side of the Lady Eagles as even after being down by two points in the crucial stretch of the fifth set, Maddie Madayag and Kat Tolentino connived to steal the lead once again, 11-10.
Rondina tried to keep UST alive, but back-to-back attack errors from the Lady Tigresses ended the match in favor of Ateneo for their seventh straight victory this season.
Records were set in this match with Ateneo’s block party producing a total of 24 kill blocks in this match, 11 of which came from the league’s current number one blocker Maddie Madayag, who tallied her best scoring output of 23 points.
Sisi Rondina also tallied career-high 35 points, tied with former Ateneo skipper Alyssa Valdez for the highest number of points in the UAAP in a single game.
Ateneo remains as the number one team in the league with a 7-1 record.
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