MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Ateneo Lady Eagles rallied back from a one-set deficit to defeat the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors in 4 sets, 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14, on Saturday, February 17, at the Filoil Flying V Centre. 

The Lady Eagles made up for their first set mishaps and cruised through the 4th set going up by 10 at set point thanks to a Jhona Maraguinot spike. Ponggay Gaston closed out the match to give Ateneo a two-game winning steak.

Maraguinot led the Lady Eagles in both offense and defense with 20 points, 12 excellent digs and 11 receptions. Maddie Madayang followed with 12 points while Bea de Leon and Kat Tolentino chipped in 10 points apiece with Tolentino making 4 aces. 

Shaya Adorador topscored for the Lady Warriors with 14 points off 12 spikes, one block and one ace while making 9 excellent digs. 

The Ateneo Lady Eagles stand at 2-2 while the UE Lady Warriors remain winless at 0-4.

The Ateneo Lady Eagles got off to a 5-1 start to the first set but eventually blew the lead as the Lady Warriors took the lead late in the set via an attack error from Ateneo (18-17). The Lady Warriors managed to bring it to a set point off a block on Jules Samonte’s attack and Me-an Mendrez’ down-the-line attack made it UE’s best start to the season, giving them a 1-0 lead in the match. 

The Lady Eagles aimed to exact revenge by racing to a 14-6 advantage early in the second set. An attack straight to the net by Tolentino ended the 7-0 run. After pulling the lead to 9, 16-7, 5 straight points by UE capped off by a Bendong ace cut the deficit to 4, 16-12.

Despite gifting UE with free points off errors, the Lady Eagles regained control and answered back with Maraguinot’s own down-the-line spike to even the match at 1 set apiece.

Gaston lifted the Lady Eagles early in the 3rd set as the Lady Warriors had a 4-1 start to the set. The Lady Eagles answered back with 4 unanswered points before committing 3 straight errors that saw UE stretch the lead to 13-10. Ateneo managed to rally back with 6 unanswered points to overtake the Lady Warriors and hold a 3-point lead, 16-13. 

Team captain Madayag powered the Lady Eagles offense with a block and two quick attacks giving Ateneo a 5-point lead, 21-16. A down-the-line spike by Maraguinot completed her back-to-back attacking performance that closed out the 3rd set for Ateneo and gave them the 2-1 advantage in the match. 

The Scores

ATENEO (3) – Maraguinot 20, Madayag 12, Tolentino 10, de Leon 10, Gaston 9, Samonte 6, Wong 4. 

UE (1) –  Adorador 14, Mendrez 12, Abil 6, Rodriguez 5, Lopez 4, Bendong 3, Catindig 1. 

– Rappler.com