Ateneo Lady Eagles sweep first two games; set up huge match with Adamson

SHE'S A STAR. Fille Cainglet smashes one home for a 24-12 lead.

Ateneo Lady Eagles sweep first two games; set up huge match with Adamson

by rick olivares

October 25, 2011

Filamer Christian University

Roxas City, Capiz

The was an air of anticipation about the Ateneo Lady Eagles’ first game of the volleyball competition in the 16^th University Games in Roxas City, Capiz. Students and fans from different schools in the city began to file inside the Filamer Christian University gym.

With the tertiary games being held in Capiz for the first time, there were many who had not seen the team play live except on television. And after two days of competition, the Lady Eagles were making their debut by playing two matches on Tuesday – the first against the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos Rams (UNO-R) and the second, to be played in the evening, against host school Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion (CPC).

The Rams entered the match with a 1-1 record (they lost to Adamson last Sunday and won over CPC). Ateneo head coach Roger Gorayeb cautioned his team about the game that was to be played a little over five hours apart. He figured that his team could easily handle UNO-R and CPC. “Finish them off right away so we can all rest,” said Gorayeb in Filipino. Wednesday would find them against long time UAAP nemesis Adamson.

The long time champion volleyball coach knew that the team could win this Unigames volleyball tournament but because his starting six would be leaving for Manila this Thursday morning to take part in the V-League Club Invitationals, his best shot was to nail these three assignments and hope that the remaining six players can hold off the other volleyball powers taking part in the competition.

When the game barker announced the starting six, a huge cheer went out for the Lady Eagles that one would think the team was back at the San Juan Arena. But the biggest cheer was reserved for team captain Fille Cainglet.

And following a Cainglet kill in the first set for a 24-12 lead the cheers got a whole lot louder (UNO-R’s service error ended the set).

In the second set, Gorayeb mostly used his bench. Although the score was a little closer at 25-17, the bench had played well with Bea Tan and Alyssa Valdez putting the finishing touches on the set.

In the third set, Ateneo quickly raced out to a 14-0 lead highlighted by Tasha Faustino’s three consecutive aces. The Lady Eagles wavered a bit but the final result was 25-9 for a 46-minute three-set sweep.

The match ended around 12:30pm and Gorayeb instructed his team to get some rest but not to sleep. “Baka sumakit mga ulo niyo.”

The second game, against CPC, was slated for 6pm. But because of scheduling snafus that seemed to plague the entire games, Ateneo was moved up to around 9pm. Gorayeb once more told his team to waste no time in dispatching the winless CPC squad.

With the Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team wildly cheering their schoolmates on, the Lady Eagles finished off their opponents in another devastating sweep (25-8, 25-10, and 25-17) following Tan’s dink that closed out the third set. Their serves made it difficult for CPC to receive and put the ball in play.

The Ateneo Lady Eagles play the Adamson Lady Falcons today, Wednesday, at 1030am at the Panay Civic Center.