V-League: Ateneo barges into the finals with four-set win over UST

After watching NU force a playoff for the right to advance to the Finals versus Adamson on Sunday, the UST Golden Tigresses were determined to do the same against the Ateneo Lady Eagles.

Ateneo had other thoughts in mind though, advancing anew to the Shakey's V-League 1st Conference Finals for a third straight time via a 25-13, 23-25, 25-23, 25-13 triumph, putting them in position to defend their title, Thursday at the SM MOA Arena.

The Lady Eagles had triumphed in their first semifinals duel by scores of 20-25, 25-16, 29-27 and 25-14.

Jem Ferrer and Jeng Bualee connected well on their combination plays as the Lady Eagles garnered the 9-3 lead in the first set. With the Tigresses committing unnecessary errors, one including a positional fault, Ateneo easily grabbed control.

With Bualee continuing to score, Alyssa Valdez and Rachel Ann Daquis were huge reinforcements for Ateneo as they cruised to a 25-13 win.

In the second, UST managed to adjust to the surging Lady Eagles as they were the ones forcing their foes into errors. The Lady Eagles were called on two early positional faults as the Tigresses took advantage of the situation, getting a one-point lead, 8-7, by the first technical timeout.

With Carmela Tunay, Maika Ortiz and Jessey De Leon stepping up for UST, they were able to extend their lead to 13-10. Ateneo fought back to regain the edge at 16-15, but Ortiz leaned on her running spikes, to trump the Lady Eagles’ offense. UST would take the second set at 25-23 off an Ortiz attack.

UST continued to connect from all angles in the third set as they grabbed an early 5-1 advantage. Jessey De Leon challenged the Ateneo blockers well as she and the rest of her squad remained aggressive in their spikes. With their well-timed attacks, the Tigresses were ahead by the second technical timeout,16-13.

Despite all the momentum with the girls in Gold and White, the Lady Eagles remained resilient and fought back to regain the lead at 18-17, care of the explosiveness of Bualee.

Ateneo also benefited from veteran plays from Ferrer, as she varied her game, from setting up Valdez, to scoring on her own via well-placed shots. That allowed the Lady Eagles to escape the third set with a score of 25-23.

The Tigresses looked off-sync in the fourth set as Ateneo forced them into multiple errors, which put the Lady Eagles on top, 8-3.

The defending champs continued to score behind the prowess of Bualee and Valdez, as their lead bubbled up to 16-4. The Lady Eagles did not look back as they finished off the Tigresses, 25-13, punching in their ticket for the Finals.

In just her second game with the Blue and White, Jeng Bualee led her squad with 22 big points. Alyssa Valdez supported her with 15 points, while Fille Cainglet and Rachel Daquis chipped in 10 apiece.

Maika Ortiz top-scored for UST with 14, while Carmela Tunay was the only other Lady Tiger in double-figures with 10. - CLP, GMA News