Lady Spikers completes a comeback victory against undefeated Eagles

Championship composure spelled the match out for the defending champion, the Lady Spikers, as the team snatched a five set victory against the ADMU Lady Eagles. The Lady Spikers performed an almost improbable comeback after going two sets to none, earlier today at the Arena in San Juan.

 

As expected, the match was a heated five-setter. The Lady Spikers stole the last three sets, while Ateneo won the first two, 28-26 and 25-21. With the victory, the Lady Spikers spoiled Ateneo’s goal of finishing the first round unbeaten. Instead, the ladies from Taft have forced the Ateneo to share first place, 6-1.

 

Ara Galang top scored for the back-to-back champion with 18 points. All of Coach Ramil De Jesus’ wards worked throughout the match, including backup setter Kim Fajardo who provided the spark when the ladies went cold.

 

Today’s game is Ateneo’s fourth five-setter match, while this game completed DLSU’s 15-set streak in five games.

 

Early rallies from both squads

The Taft-based ladies started strong in the match, leading by as much as four points, but Ateneo came to life minutes after DLSU’s lead to once again, regain control.

 

The heated game had several rallies in the opening set. The Lady Eagles ballooned the team’s lead to six, 19-13. The Lady Spikers, however, did not stand waiting,as the team managed to reclaim the lead, 24-23, only to surrender the set to Ateneo, 26-28.

 

With momentum on the side of the Lady Eagles, the Lady Spikers entered the second set with straight faces. The ladies from Taft were sluggish for most of the set despite scoring fight backs. Ateneo easily pulled a 2-0 set advantage with one set away from an unbeaten record.

 

Errors in the absence of blocking

The Lady Spikers did not perform to their standard in the first two sets, which gave Ateneo the lead. Prior to the game, La Salle committed an average of 21.33 errors a game, but in this particular match, the Lady Spikers committed 24 unforced errors in just two sets.

 

Known as the best blocking team for the longest time in the league, the blocks of the Lady Spikers seemed to be absent in the first two sets of the match. The team only managed three.

 

 

 

Lady Spikers proved might

Just when the Lady Eagles thought that the Katipunan-based squad would achieve 7-0 record in the first round, the Lady Spikers came back and showed Ateneo the squad’s real character. The Lady Spikers improved the team’s blocking and only committed five errors throughout the third set.

 

The Lady Spikers surged early in the third set, 12-3. Even with Ateneo’s attempt to make a comeback, La Salle remained composed and sealed the set easily to extend the Taft-based squad’s life on the match. The De Jesus-mentored squad pulled a complete third set rout against the team’s counterpart, 25-13.

 

The fourth set was another seesaw battle, as both squads made runs to steal the lead from each other. The Lady Eagles even took a three-point lead, 15-12, but had the team’s last taste of the lead at 18-17.

 

As both squads tried to exchange hits and points, Fille Cainglet of the Lady Eagles twisted her right ankle after two consecutive spike attempts. Cainglet did not return to play in the game. The Lady Spikers cruised to an easy fourth set victory, 25-21, to force a do-or-die fifth set.

 

Sealing the game

Things were different in the final set as Cainglet was brought out of the venue and Ateneo’s top scorer Alyssa Valdez sat on the bench. The Lady Spikers capitalized on the loss of Ateneo’s spikers and grabbed an early, 5-2, lead.

 

The Lady Eagles did not hand over the game, but the Eagles could not just steal the lead from the defending champion. The Katipunan-based squad did not even managed to tie the game in the fifth set.

 

In the middle of the final set, both squads exchanged errors, La Salle managed to capitalize on the exchange of errors. Veteran Michelle Gumabao, ended the long match after two straight points from the Eagles.
In the very tight match, Coach De Jesus still managed to let his bench players play, providing his starters time to rest and end the fifth set.

 

After settling for second for most of the season, the Lady Spikers bounced back to familiar territory, the top seed of the standings. The defending champion will defend the crown at the start of the second round of elimination on January 19.