BACOLOD City – Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles survived a tough stand by University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses, 25-21, 27-25, 21-25, 22-25, 15-11, in their exhibition game on Sunday night at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum here.
Vanessa Gandler and Lyann de Guzman came alive in the crucial stretch of the fifth set for the Blue Eagles, which renewed its mastery of the Golden Tigresses after beating them in UAAP Season 82 finals and in UAAP Season 84 step-ladder semifinals.
The Golden Tigresses opened the fifth set with back-to-back hits from Athena Abbu but the Blue Eagles capitalized on the former’s miscues followed by shots from Gandler to take an 8-4 advantage.
UST kept the match close several times at 7-10 and 11-12 on back-to-back hits by Abbu and Ejiya Laure but Ateneo answered with an attack from De Guzman and two straight Golden Tigresses errors to clinch the victory.
The victory served as a bounce back for the Oliver Almandro-mentored Blue Eagles after they dropped a five setter against Akari Power Chargers in another exhibition match at the same venue less than a month ago.
Ateneo surged to a 3-0 start in the first set with an ace by Takako Fujimoto, a block by Joan Narit and an attack by Gene Hora but UST kept the match close at 18-22 before Narit went to work with consecutive points for the Blue Eagles.
UST was dominant almost the entire second set and were on the verge of winning it at 24-23 but Gandler unloaded an equalizer followed by consecutive hits from Faith Nisperos to win the set for Ateneo.
The Blue Eagles zoomed to an 8-2 start in the fourth set on attacks by Yvana Sulit, Gandler and De Guzman but the Golden Tigresses turned things around behind Abbu, Camille Victoria and Bacolodnon Cassie Carballo to stay alive.
The Golden Tigresses started the fourth set strong with connections from Victoria, Mary Ecalla and Imee Hernandez but the Blue Eagles kept the match close before Laure came up with back-to-back hits for UST to send the match to a deciding set.
“Last UAAP tournament we really had a short preparation. We were limited to a few tune-up games. Having games like this is really important to us,” said Almadro. “We have a lot of new players in our lineup so we really have to immerse ourselves in an actual match.”/PN
