V-League: Ateneo, NU power through to opening day victories

(Updated 8:50pm) The 10th season of the Shakey's V-League kicked off Sunday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan, as the Ateneo Lady Eagles and the National University Lady Bulldogs notched opening day wins.

The first match, between the Lady Eagles and University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses was a back-and-forth affair of hard-hitting volleyball action, between two UAAP opponents.

The first set began with the expected: running spikes from Maika Ortiz, Alyssa Valdez soaring high and the crowd going crazy at every point. The Lady Eagles rallied to a 16-11 lead with a huge spark coming from guest player and crowd favorite, former FEU star Rachel Anne Daquis.

Reinforcements Daquis and Leal Patnongon picked up the slack for Ateneo, as the Lady Eagles were without Gretchen Ho, Aillysse Nacachi and Dzi Gervacio. However, UST rallied back to keep the score tight at 24-23, before the girls in blue and white eventually emerged as the winners of the first set, 25-23.

The second set displayed a similar story, with Daquis and Valdez showing their offensive arsenal as they let loose a barrage of varied attacks, taking it 25-23.

Ateneo then swept the Tigresses in the third set with a help from UST’s unforced errors and Jem Ferrer's service game. The Lady Eagles finished the third set 25-20.


The second game of the day consisted of NCAA squad Arellano University going up against National University.

NU was just too much for Arellano in the first two sets, as Dindin Santiago and Myla Pablo led the way for the Lady Bulldogs, by margins of 25-21, and 25-19.

Arellano however would fight back, as the crowd rallied behind the underdog, helping the Lady Chiefs stay alive via a 25-23 third set victory.

The game’s momentum then seemingly shifted completely to their side as they started the fourth set with a quick 7-2 advantage. However, the veteran experience of the duo of Pablo and Santiago kept the Bulldogs properly composed, as they regained the lead quickly at 11-10.

NU did not look back as the Santiago-led squad finished the match with a 25-20 fourth set victory.  - RAF/AMD, GMA News