Spike it Hard | For the love of Volleyball | Blog Archive » It all boils down to three teams: Ateneo, UST, and San Sebastian

23 November 2007 It all boils down to three teams: Ateneo, UST, and San Sebastian

After Adamson and La Salle was eliminated both by Ateneo, now the contenders for the Vleague championship has been cut down to three schools namely Ateneo, UST and San Sebastian.

In the eliminations, when these three teams faced each other, it was kind of a close game.

Ateneo won over UST in 5 sets, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 15-6 right after having an intensive training in Thailand for three weeks. After two days, San Sebastian let Ateneo taste their first ever defeat winning over them, 18-25, 25-23, 29-27, 20-25, 15-7. And of course, the last day of eliminations saw the rematch of the finals last conference with UST winning over San Sebastian, 21-25, 25-19, 25-9, 25-16.

Letâ€™s have a look at the three teams:

Ateneo de Manila University

Current First Six (as of their last game):
Setter - Karla Bello
Utility - Bianca Sison
Middle Blockers - Bea Pascual and Phee Nok Kesinee
Wing Spikers - Kara Acevedo and Charo Soriano
*Libero - Steph Gabriel

Ateneo can match up well in terms of defense. Among the three teams, Ateneo has the best floor defense and has the best blocking. They have the best floor defense because everyone can dig and receive well. The teamâ€™s best receivers are of course Steph Gabriel, Kara Acevedo and Phee Nok Kesinee. Likewise, in digging, Phee Nok Kesinee is the best in this team. In terms of blocking, Phee Nok Kesinee has been leading the stats with the help of UAAP Season 69 Best Blocker Bea Pascual.

In terms of offense, Ateneo is not known for hard hitting but more of smart placings or off-speed shots. The hard hitters in their team are Charo Soriano, Phee Nok Kesinee and Kara Acevedo. Patti Taganas is also a hard hitter but she is sporting a thigh injury which is why she is having a hard time playing lately. Misha Quimpo likewise is a good open spiker but got an ankle injury in their first game in the eliminations. The new Kat Sison has been doing a good job though in spiking. She has the power, but needs to polish on how she will spike the ball or where she will put it. Bea Pascual has been learning a lot from Phee Nok Kesinee thatâ€™s why a lot of her points come from dump balls. Charo Soriano is a good open spiker, no doubt about that. One good thing about her is she is a versatile player since she can hit a quick or a running spike as hard as her open spikes. Kara Acevedo can be counted as one of the best utility spikers in the league. Though a rookie, she has a lot of volleyball smarts up her sleeve. Karla Bello is doing a good job as a setter with those dinks and dump balls. She is probably one of the best setters in the league. Serving will be another weapon they can possess as most of the Lady Eaglesâ€™ serve are very hard to receive.

Ateneo is an unpredictable team actually. True, after battling out UST and San Sebastian early in the eliminations, they have lost the intensity and composure, hence, the close games but after losing to San Sebastian in the semi-finals in three straight sets, the Lady Eagles finally woke up and had the same intensity again. The intensity they had when they faced UST and San Sebastian. The â€heartâ€ they once had is back which is why they gave a â€One Big Fight!â€ in their last two games. So expect a different Ateneo Lady Eagles again when they battle the UST Tigresses on Sunday. It will prove to be an exciting match as their is pressure on the Lady Eagles to keep up with the contenders.

San Sebastian College-Recoletos

Current First Six (as of their last game):
Setter - Cha Ancheta
Utility - Jinni Mondejar
Middle Blockers - Mel Mirasol and Sasa Devanadera
Wing Spikers - Luann Latigay and Jang Bualee
*Libero - MJ Pepito

San Sebastian has the best libero around in MJ Pepito. The footwork and reflex of this girl is amazing since she can turn a hard spike into an easy ball and set a good play right away. They also have one of the best receivers and diggers in Jang Bualee and Luann Latigay. In terms of blocking, Mel Mirasol and Sasa Devandera have been doing a good job in blocking. Actually come to think of it, the team is tall that is why there is no reason that they should fail in blocking.

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