Ateneo Women's Volleyball Match #6 A Missed Opportunity

Ateneo vs Far Eastern University
23-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 12-15
by rick olivares

Match 6
January 13, 2008
Blue Eagle Gym

It was a thrilling and hard-fought five-set match replete with rallies, spectacular saves, and unlikely heroes for both the Ateneo and Far Eastern University sides. Yet in the end, the Ateneo Lady Spikers fell 15-12 in the final set, their second straight loss to put then at an even 3-3 record.

Charo Soriano, Patty Taganas, and Karla Bello have known disappointment while wearing the blue and white. They’ve had good teams the past couple of years, but they just couldn’t get over the hump. This year represents their last opportunity to make a run for a championship even against the national team-stocked line-ups of other UAAP foes.

The Lady Spikers have taken care of business by winning the games against lower-seeded teams with the four-set loss to UST their only blemish. But after a 3-1 start, the team has been dealt a pair of debilitating manpower losses that ended up in losses and put the season in the crossroads. “We have to make a stand in the second round,” expressed Soriano with guarded optimism that same evening of the FEU loss. “There’s going to be a sense of urgency. Every game is crucial and everyone has to step up.”

While the loss of Bea Pascual to an anterior cruciate ligament injury for the remainder of the season puts a crimp in the rotation, it’s also an opportunity for the bench to step up. With Bello still not fully recovered from an ankle injury that also knocked her out of the Adamson game (where Pascual fell) and Taganas requiring therapy for her knees every now and then, Trisha Limgenco, Averil Paje, and Crystal Ballentye have provided huge lifts for the suddenly beleaguered team of coach Ronald Dulay.

Limgenco has been especially impressive with her setting and blocking. “Konting exposure pa at mas maganda pa ang ipapakita niya,” marveled Dulay after the game. Limgenco had 8 points off an assortment of dinks, blocks, and a pair of service aces. But the former national coach can’t help but shake his head over the losses to Adamson (where the team came out really flat) and FEU (a game they should have won after spotting the Lady Tams a 23-20 lead in the first set).

The team held fast in the face of going down two sets to love with a gritty 25-23 win in the second set. Ballentyne occupied Pascual’s center position and over-all came up with 12 huge points to back up Soriano’s game total of 18 and Cara Acevedo’s 13. Ballentyne, Soriano, and Limgenco had some good blocks on FEU’s Rachel Daquis (although she had a game high of 20 points).

But the team’s inability to close down the stretch eventually did them in. “Problema yung receiving namin,” offered Ateneo assistant coach Mic Mic Laborte after the game. “Meron ilan communication errors na-translate ng FEU into points. Kung naayos lang namin yun we could have won the game.”

“Some of the games we lost were winnable,” said University Athletics Director Ricky Palou afterwards. Palou who had injured his right hand that morning as he slipped on the pitch during the football opening ceremony across the gym was cheering his lungs out from the patron section. After the loss, the pain in his heart seemed to hurt more than his bandaged hand. “Sayang,” lamented the former Blue Eagle. “Sayang to. If they had won this game with Pascual and Bello out, it would have been a huge boost to the team’s morale. Now they have to go out and prove it to themselves all over again.”