Lady Eagles fall to DLSU Lady Spikers

The Ateneo Lady Eagles suffered a sorry loss to rival De La Salle Lady Spikers in the Season 73 UAAP Volleyball Tournament. La Salle dominated the highly anticipated match-up and the Lady Eagles lost in three straight sets (18-25, 11-25, 12-25).

[Watch the video recap of the Ateneo vs DLSU game on goATENEOtv]

The defeat ended the Lady Eagles’ seven-game, 21-set winning streak. With the loss, the Lady Eagles saw their chances of getting a twice-to-beat advantage throughout the Final Four slip away. Despite the setback, however, the Lady Eagles are still firmly in the semi-final cast.

Fille Cainglet led the Lady Eagles with 11 points on 9 spikes, 1 block and 1 serve.

In the first set, the Lady Eagles looked as though they matched La Salle’s intensity as they traded points. Spikes from Fille Cainglet, Angeline Gervacio and Bea Pascual kept the Lady Eagles close, 7-8. Unfortunately, De La Salle scored the next five points of the match, capitalizing on Ateneo’s errors. The Lady Eagles tried to keep up but committed several errors down the stretch as La Salle ended the first set, 18-25.

The Lady Eagles’ woes continued in the second and third sets. Despite being the best receiving team in the league, the Lady Eagles were unable to adjust to the serves and spikes from De La Salle. The Lady Eagles did not help themselves by committing several errors that led to easy points for the Lady Spikers. The second set saw the Lady Eagles go down 11-25.

In the third set, the Lady Eagles seemed eager to extend the game but La Salle’s offense was too strong. The Lady Spikers took an 11-5 lead before Coach Roger Gorayeb sued for time. In the huddle, Coach Roger exhorted the Lady Eagles to play together; he also chastised them for looking defeated despite the game not yet being over. Despite their coach’s pep talk, the Lady Eagles could not match-up against the taller and faster players of DLSU. The third set ended 12-25.

For the first time in many games, the Lady Eagles scrambled on the offensive end. Team captain and setter Jamenea Ferrer had trouble setting up her teammates efficiently. Only Cainglet was able to generate offense for the Lady Eagles. Other Ateneo scorers Kara Acevedo, Angeline Gervacio, Bea Pascual and Gretchen Ho were troubled by De La Salle’s blocking defense.  The four players combined for only 11 points. The floor defense of Ateneo was also bothered by strong serves and spikes of De La Salle.

The Lady Eagles will try to get back on the win column next Sunday against Adamson University.

By Camille B. Naredo