TWO teams currently on a hot streak in UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament go head-to-head today at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Ateneo Lady Eagles and University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses, owners of two of the longest winning streaks this University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season, stake their impressive runs when they clash at the 4 p.m. main game.
Ateneo has racked up six straight wins to date to pad its record to a league-leading 7-1 card.
Playing their first season post-Alyssa Valdez, the Lady Eagles are competently holding their own on the strength of a balanced attack and go-getting mind-set.
Ateneo’s latest prey were the University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons, making it a double over its Katipunan neighbors with another straight-sets victory, 25-15, 25-14 and 25-15.
Jhoana Maraguinot was the top-scorer for the Lady Eagles in their UP win with 17 points, 15 coming from spikes and two service aces.
Kat Tolentino had 10 while Michelle Morente and Bea De Leon each had nine points.
“The players are just doing what they are supposed to do. Their confidence is high and when they play they do not pay much attention to the standings and just give their all,” said Ateneo assistant coach Sherwin Meneses of the kind of mind-set they have in the run they are having.
FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK
Equally ascending and looking to extend it further is UST (5-3), winner of its last four games and has successful turned things around after a so-so start to the season.
The Tigresses are getting solid performances from their main stalwarts of late, with their bench also rising to the occasion.
UST’s fourth straight win came at the expense of the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors, 25-21, 25-15 and 25-23, last Saturday in a game where contributions came from different directions.
Tin Francisco and veteran Pam Lastimosa came off the bench to lead their team with 10 points each. EJ Laure and Caitlyn Viray tallied seven points apiece to help thrust the Tigresses to solo third place in the standings.
“Our efforts and patience in training are slowly bearing fruit. We remain positive and hope to continue to stay the course as the tournament progresses,” said UST coach Emilio “Kungfu” Reyes.
Meanwhile, serving as appetizer at 2 p.m. is the battle between skidding UP and UE.
The Lady Maroons (4-4) enter the contest on a four-game losing streak which has negated their strong 4-0 start. They now look to halt their free fall so as not to lose more ground in the race for the playoffs.
UE (1-7), for its part, is out to bounce back from its previous loss that sent it back to ground after notching its first win of the season prior.