MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The Ateneo Lady Eagles’ resilience catapulted them to defeat the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses in  in 5 sets, 25-22, 20-25, 16-25, 25-17, 15-9, on Wednesday, April 4, at the Filoil Flying V Centre. 

After regaining momentum in the 4th set, the Lady Eagles shut out the Tigresses in the deciding set as they raced to a 10-3 advantage. UST kept its hopes up by answering back with 5 straight points punctuated by Caitlin Viray’s two aces. Kat Tolentino halted UST’s run and her ace sealed the victory for Ateneo.

With the victory, Ateneo officially makes it to the Final 4 in its 9th post-season appearance.

The Lady Eagles improve to 9-3 while the Tigresses fall to 4-8 in the UAAP Season 80 Women’s Volleyball tournament.

Tolentino led the Lady Eagles with 21 points off 17 spikes, two blocks and two aces, followed by Jho Maraguinot with 19 points.

Sisi Rondina made 21 points of her own to lead the Tigresses.

The Tigresses got off to a strong start until the Lady Eagles made a 5-1 run that took the lead by two, 16-14. After UST cut the deficit to one, 21-20, Ateneo pulled away and Sisi Rondina’s attack straight to the net gave away the 1-0 lead to the Lady Eagles.

After the back-and-forth action during the second set, UST escaped with a 4-1 run capped of by a double contact error by Ateneo. Alina Bicar’s ace brought it to set point and Milena Alessandrini’s block evened the match at 1-1.

UST had the upper-hand in the 3rd set as it pulled away with 5 unanswerd points after a Bea de Leon service error. Ateneo continued to collapse as it committed a total of 9 errors to UST’s 4. Carla Sandoval’s block gave the Tigresses the two-set advantage in the match

Kat Tolentino’s back-to-back attacks midway in the 4th set turned the tables for Ateneo. The Lady Eagles enforced a crucial 5-0 run that prevented the Tigresses from taking the match in the 4th set. Tolentino’s attack pushed the match to a 5th set.

The Scores

Ateneo (3) – Tolentino 21, Maraguinot 19, Madayag 11, Samonte 7, De Leon 7, Wong 4.

UST (2) – Rondina 21, Alessandrini 10, Francisco 10, Sandoval 9, Bicar 6, Viray 5, Palec 5, Pacres 1.   – Rappler.com