By Paulo Diesta, Nikolai Ordoña, Marcus Suner

Competing for the very first time in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the Ateneo Blue Eagles Girls’ Volleyball Team (AHSGVT) won against the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) in the opening game of the UAAP Season 86 High School Volleyball rounds last November 4, at the St. Vincent Gym of Adamson University in Manila.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles Girls’ Volleyball Team consisted of the following players:

• Jamaena Brynn L. Kaw (12-Beyzym)
• Megan N. Cajucom-Uy (12-Arnaiz)
• Christen (Ten) Mikaela C. Quimpo (12-Grodecky)
• Maria Angelica B. Dagala (12-Evans)
• Rian B. Ardidon (12-Fontoura)
• Nicola Frances F. Ladignon (11-Gavan)
• Julienne (Lian) Vernette Dy (12-Evans)
• Annika Justine D. Lim (11-Nakaura)
• Althaea Dominique A. Ramos (11-Owen)
• Satya Gabrielle O. Torres (11-Angelis)
• Reggie Isabel A. Sanchez (12-Daniel)
• Therese Eleanor A. Malonzo (12-Pantalia)
• Hannah Dominique L. Morico (12-Xavier)
• Abigail-May S. Martija (12-Solinas)
• Frances Karol M. Nadong (12-Arnaiz)

Facing each other in a best-of-five series, both teams exuded competitiveness and battled it out through several close sets that concluded in a small margin of victory. 

In the end, Ateneo bested UPIS, winning three sets to one: 24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 26-24,  to capture a victory in the season-opening game, marking the team’s first victory in its UAAP debut.

First Set

A back-and-forth game between Ateneo and UP set the tone for a series of close and competitive exchanges. The AHS players began with a strong start, establishing a 7-1 lead during the first few minutes. 

As the set progressed, UP gradually tailed their way back to competition. Through well-timed spikes and drop balls, the players from UP narrowed the Ateneo lead to 14-12. 

In response, Ateneo retaliated with repeated, unanswered shots, increasing their lead to 18-12. However, the scoring streak of Ateneo ended when they committed a service error, giving UP the point. 

Following this, Ateneo extended their lead, being followed up by multiple, misplaced shots that hit the net, resulting in a close 21-19 fight. 

As both teams battled for set point, the offense became fierce from both sides in an attempt to capture first set victory. 

A long rally commenced, which ended with Ateneo getting the better of the exchange, earning them a score of 24-22. 

With one more point separating them from victory, Ateneo committed a number of service errors, handing UP two more points, resulting in both teams now tied at 24-24. UP took advantage of this momentum and fired well-calculated shots to put pressure on Ateneo. 

In the end, UP triumphed in a 24-26 set victory when AHS hit the volleyball out of bounds. 

Second Set

Ateneo made a rough opening during set two, denoting a significant shift from its strong start in the first set. 

Despite scoring due to errors from UP, Ateneo struggled to maintain its advantage as their opponents continuously caught up and tried to take the lead. 

After a long rally and tenacious exchange between Ateneo and UP, Ateneo player Jamaena Kaw scored, tying the game at 5-5. This was the first of several ties in the set.

With Ateneo on the backfoot at 9-11, the team called for a timeout.

The resumption of the match was followed by several errors from both teams. Despite exchanging service aces and successful defenses, their streaks of success were quickly cut short by the other side, resulting in an alternating lead until the last tie at 16-16, when Ateneo began to pick up its momentum. 

Ateneo managed to lead up to 19-16 before UP called for a timeout. 

As the match picked up pace once more, UP was given three more points due to service errors. However, Ateneo scored six more, including three consecutive service aces from player Julienne Dy, which sealed the set’s final outcome at 25-19—the first victory of Ateneo during the game.

Third Set

Following their dominant win during the second set, AHS continued their offense, which handed UP problems adjusting to their pace. 

As UP players returned the ball, it was immediately met with a vicious spike from the Ateneo side that garnered a 4-0 Ateneo lead. This momentum was cut short by an out of bounds ball that gave UP the point. 

Despite this, Ateneo managed to regain their composure and managed to rack up spikes to extend their lead to 10-3, prompting UP to call a timeout. 

Ateneo player Julienne Dy executed a service ace, widening their score to 13-4. In retaliation, UP answered back with a service ace of their own, placing the score at 13-6.  

There was a long back and forth between the players and their shots, ending eventually in an accurate attack by UP.

After a number of service errors by both teams, another long rally ensued between Ateneo and UP. It halted when UP deflected the ball out of bounds from a spike hit, the score listed at 15-8. 

The next few exchanges resulted in UP scoring twice in a row due to repeated errors from Ateneo hitting the net.

With UP slowly regaining their offense and the current score at 15-10, Ateneo quickly had an answer through their defensive plays. This caused UP to struggle in creating spike shot opportunities, resulting in errors. 

During a crucial point of the set, at 17-13, UP committed several out-of-bounds shots, which handed AHS three consecutive points. Immediately after, a timeout was called by UP at 20-13.

On one of the plays, a long rally began between UP and Ateneo that almost ended when the ball flew close to a ceiling fan during the exchange. During the shot trades, Ateneo players lined up the ball straight for an opponent’s spike, handing UP the point.

As Ateneo achieves set point at 24-17, the succeeding minutes that ensued showed defensive and offensive plays from UP to force their opponents to commit errors. Despite being behind, this gave UP a slight resurgence up to 25-20. 

Although UP was able to momentarily weather Ateneo’s offense through errors, the AHS players secured a strong finish at 25-20 in the third set with a coordinated shot.

Fourth Set

Similar to Ateneo’s significant lead in the first set, UP grabbed the advantage in the first few minutes of set four at a five-point head start. However, Ateneo eventually pushed through with Rian Ardidon earning the first point followed by an attack from Ten Quimpo. 

A three-point gap remained as both teams caught up on each other. Despite being behind by two points, Ateneo managed to score five points in a row, three coming from Nicola Ladignon’s service aces, one from Jamaena Kaw’s drop shot, and one by technicality, bringing the lead to Ateneo at 13-10. UP then responded with attacks that began to further narrow the score difference between both teams, becoming tied at almost every point. 

After a long rally, Ateneo scored twice in a row, with UP hitting the net and Julienne Dy making a drop shot at 19-17. Once again, UP caught up until Ateneo called for a timeout at 19-19. 

UP was able to take the lead after scoring due to Ateneo hitting the ceiling fan, an advantage that they fought to maintain. Ateneo, on the other hand, scored multiple times until a timeout by UP at 23-23. 

Two long rallies ensued afterward with both tying again at 24-24. However, Ateneo clutched the lead at 25-24 before UP called for a last timeout. In the end, Ateneo clinched the final score at 26-24, ultimately winning the fourth set and the entire game.

Post-match

In a post-match interview with Team Captain Christen Quimpo, she praised the team’s efforts and commitment, both on and off the court, to finally be able to join the UAAP Season 86 representing Ateneo as the first girl’s volleyball team.

“We really wanted to prove ourselves, especially now that we’re the first girls’ team for High School in Ateneo […] We wanted to show that we deserve this spot, that we really fought to be here in a competitive way,” Quimpo said.

“We trained every day after school. We stayed up just to do our schoolwork. We worked hard, not only in trainings but in school also, to keep playing and to hopefully go here in the UAAP and continue to play,” she added.

Additionally, she remarked that this first opportunity for the team felt “surreal” because they “didn’t expect” that the Ateneo Blue Eagles Volleyball Team  would be playing in the UAAP.

Alongside Quimpo was Team Coach Raymund Castillo, better known as Coach Babes, who celebrated the win and commended the team’s efforts for that day.

“Well, [this win] is so significant. This is the first time they played in the UAAP, but not everybody knows that we prepared for this since June 5 pa. [The team] went through everything just to get here. So, today was, of course, a blessing that we want to embrace,” he said.

“Our duty is to do everything right, completely, mindfully, and intentfully; and God will take care of the rest. So, I guess, that’s what happened here,” he added.

Discussing the loss during the first set of the match, Coach Castillo added that “What really, actually happened was we let go of our standard.”

“Today hindi pa ‘yun yung standard. Sabi ko nga, we only gave out 40 percent to 30 percent of the standard that we want,” he remarked.

For Castillo, it was not the results that they strive to achieve during training, rather it is the quality and standard that they want.

When asked about the venue and how there were multiple occasions of the ball hitting or coming close to the ceiling fans, Castillo stated that “Syempre, ideally, you want a higher ceiling limit.”

Regardless, he still praised the venue and its available amenities, saying that “[…] other than that, the whole ambience, the whole setup is amazing. Adamson is really doing a good job.”

Beyond the pressure to perform, the team is feeling excited for UAAP, according to Castillo.

“More than the pressure, we’re just so excited to be here right away. To be honest, excited lang kami to really get here and we’re here now,” he concluded. 

As the team scores its first victory in its debut UAAP match, Quimpo stated that the team will keep up its training routine, saying, “We’re gonna keep this win in our minds and just learn from the small errors that we made and improve on those in the next coming games in the future.”