By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Battle of Katipunan lived up to high expectations.
Ateneo came out victorious after surviving the gallant stand of University of the Philippines, 15-25, 25-23, 27-25, 30-32, 16-14, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament Saturday evening, March 22, at Mall of Asia Arena.
Trailing by two, 12-14, in the fifth set, the Blue Eagles displayed steely nerves with Lyann De Guzman getting timely support from Zey Pacia, who scored back-to-back hits to level the game and eventually take their second straight victory.
Ateneo skipper De Guzman put up a splendid statline of 25 points on 23 attacks, one block and one ace along 14 excellent digs and 17 excellent receptions while Taks Fujimoto was superb in her plays with 26 excellent sets.
Pacia, for her part, tallied 13 points while AC Miner and rookie Jihan Chuatico added 19 and 12, respectively. Yvana Sulit also stepped up with 11 for the Blue Eagles who hiked their card to 3-5.
Ateneo’s win just created a three-way tie in the standings as Adamson and UP also hold a 3-5 win-loss record.
Nina Ytang, who rallied the Maroons in the deciding frame, finished with 24 points off 19 kills, four blocks and one ace while Irah Jaboneta and Joan Monares conspired for 38 points.
Kassandra Doering (15), and Kianne Olango (13) also produced their respective double-digit outputs for UP.
Meanwhile, Adamson finally snapped its four-game slide with a dominant 25-20, 25-11, 25-21 win over University of the East to open the second round with a bang.
The Lady Falcons came out extra motivated to end their losing spell, hitting the ball with authority and showing no mercy at all to improve to a 3-5 record and hand the Lady Warriors their eighth defeat in as many games.
Rookie Shai Nitura delivered the goods and scored 18 points off 17 attacks and one block.
Fhei Sagaysay dazzled in orchestrating the Lady Falcons’ offense with 14 excellent sets on top of two points. Mayang Nuique and Barbie Jamili backed Nitura with 11 and nine points, respectively.
Khy Cepada and Nessa Bangayan had a quiet 10 and nine points for the struggling UE side.
