V-League: Lady Eagles tie Arellano for first place with win over St. Louis

The Ateneo Lady Eagles laid out a three-set sweep against the St. Louis Lady Navigators, 25-16 25-18 25-13, Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena, to forge a tie for first place in Group A of the Shakey's V-League Season 11-1st Conference.

The Lady Navigators complete their stint in the tourney with a winless 0-5 record, while the Lady Eagles tie the Arellano Lady Chiefs at 4-1.

The Lady Navigators kept themselves in the game at the beginning of the first set as Marian Torres and Krissian Tsuchiya gave St. Louis a 12-11 advantage. Ateneo however found their groove as Alyssa Valdez let loose by flashing her offensive skills. After an additional boost by Kim Gequillana, the Lady Eagles were able to form a two-point advantage at 16-14 by the technical timeout.

Ateneo pulled away with Gequillana’s consistency and Michelle Morente’s aggressiveness to attack the line of blockers. With back-to-back service aces by Gequillana, the Lady Eagles finished the opener at 25-16.

The second set was a similar story, only this time Valdez and Amy Ahomiro were seated on the bench to give guest players Bea De Leon and Jhoanna Maraginot additional playing time. With Gizelle Tan assuming the duties of the team’s setter, the Lady Eagles managed to gain the upper hand immediately. Tsuchiya’s constant attacks from the front-row were held back due to Ateneo’s defensive presence, as the defending UAAP champs increased their lead to 16-10.

De Leon capitalized on the weak returns by the Lady Navigators as she thrived on constant quick attacks. Ateneo delivered in the second set with the score of 25-18.

Ateneo did not hold anything back come the third set as the Lady Eagles started with a 7-1 scoring burst. ADMU reached a double-digit advantage at 16-6, as the Lady Navigators suffered from a scoring drought. The likes of Mary Tajima, Morente and De Leon continued their steady performance as they wrapped up the final set with a 25-13 drubbing.

Tsuchiya led her squad with 11 points while Torres and Roxanne Almonte scored four each. The Lady Navigators struggled throughout the match to form any significant offense as seen by the lopsided 33-12 tally of digs. The Lady Navigators were also outmatched, 28-8 in the sets department, with Ateneo's Tan leading the charge with 18 excellent sets.

The Lady Eagles dominated the points won in terms of attacks category with a 37-22 difference and laid out an 11-2 advantage in the service area. Gequillana finished the match as the highest scorer with 12 points followed by De Leon’s eight. Maraginot and Morente tallied seven points each, while Tajima added six.  - AMD, GMA News

P-2 for Match 26_ ADM-SLU by GMA News Online