The Ateneo de Manila University nabbed its third-straight win in the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament after defeating the University of the East in four sets, 25-14, 20-25, 25-11, 25-14, on Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Faith Nisperos had 19 points on 15 attacks, three aces, and a block to go along with seven excellent receptions while Vanie Gandler tallied 16 points on 12 attacks, three aces, and a block laced with 14 excellent digs to propel the Blue Eagles to a tie for the third spot in the standings with UP at 3-3.
“We’re not counting the streak e, we just want to be better every game and this game is not different from the other games we have to prepare rin for UE,” said Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro. “We know for a fact naman na lumalaban talaga sila and ‘pag hindi mo binantayan yung counter attack nila, they will really hit on you like what happened on our second set.”
Riding the crest of their momentum from the third set, Ateneo came into the second technical timeout of the fourth frame with a seven-point, 16-9 advantage off a Jheycel Delos Reyes rejection on Rhea Manalo. The Blue Eagles led by as much as 12, 23-11, off an Erika Raagas off-speed hit before Vanie Gandler put up the finishing touches.
Raagas and Joan Narit each had nine points for Ateneo while Jaja Maraguinot collected 24 excellent sets to go along with three points and eight excellent digs.
On the other hand, the Lady Red Warriors suffered a huge blow with Ja Lana suffering an injury in the fourth set because of a bad fall after a block attempt. This is another awful injury blow for UE as just a week ago, Apple Lingay also went down with an ankle injury.
Lana led the Lady Red Warriors with 13 points and nine excellent receptions while Dara Nieva added 12 points and 10 excellent digs for UE, who fell to a 0-6 hole.
Ateneo Blue Eagles now on a roll, wins third straight in UAAP women’s volleyball
