By Ivan Saldajeno
The Ateneo Lady Eagles leaned on the prowess of Alyssa Valdez to cruise to a 25-21, 25-13, 25-19 win against the hapless UST Tigresses in the nightcap of the UAAP women's volleyball doubleheader at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
The Lady Eagles, however, had to avert an impending upset loss as they trailed, 7-13, midway into the first set.
Alyssa Valdez and Ella De Jesus, however, sparked Ateneo's late rally to steal the set from UST.
The Lady Eagles then mauled the Tigresses in the second set as rookie sensation E.J. Laure struggled all game long.
Cherry Rondina looked to lead UST's Set 3 charge, but the fightback fell short.
Valdez led the Lady Eagles, now at 4-0 with 22 points off 19 spikes and three aces, while De Jesus added 12 on ten attacks and two aces.
This would be Ateneo's last UAAP game for the year as the team will play in the ASEAN University Games next week.
The said tournament prompted the league to move the Lady Eagles' game against the UE Lady Warriors originally scheduled on Wednesday to January 10, a day before their anticipated match-up against the De La Salle Lady Spikers.
Jessey De Leon and Marivic Meneses took some of the scoring load from Laure as they tallied eight and seven points respectively for the Tigresses, who slipped to their third straight defeat.
Laure, who entered the game averaging 13 points a game, was limited to only six.
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