MANILA – Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles cruised to solo first place in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball with a 25-21, 25-18, 28-26 win over University of the Philippines Lady Maroons at the San Juan Arena.
Madeleine Madayag top-scored with 14 points on Sunday night while Kat Tolentino and Pauline Gaston contributed 12 and 10 markers.
With the win, the Lady Eagles cruised to solo first place with a 4-1 win-loss slate.
Behind 12-14 early in the first set, the Lady Eagles came up with consecutive points to take an 18-14 edge. Ateneo increase the lead to 24-18 but the UP came to within 21-24 before Gaston ended the set for the Lady Eagles with an attack point.
Lady Eagles took advantage of the errors of the Lady Maroons as it grabbed a 20-13 advantage. UP tried to rally back after changing its lineup but Ateneo still cruised to an easy second set win.
In the third set, the Lady Maroons showed some life as it forced several deadlocks with last at 26-all. But an error by the Lady Maroons followed by a conversion by Deanna Wong ended the match for the Lady Eagles.
“My players really prepared well. Sometimes, I let them prepare on their own, talk on their own. My players are responding to the challenge that I gave them,” said Lady Eagles head coach Oliver Almandro.
Diana Carlos tallied 10 points, while Aie Gannaban chipped in seven markers for the Lady Maroons, which dropped to third place in the standings with 3-2 win-loss slate./PN
