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19 February 2008 UST Tigresses and Ateneo Lady Eagles - both in a “do or die” situation

The University of Santo Tomas and Ateneo de Manila University Women’s Volleyball Teams are perhaps two of the most followed teams in the UAAP. One being followed for their height and power while one are being followed for a splendid defense and a player named Charo Soriano. In Last V-League, you would see how the support of both teams flowed as there were yellow balloons for the Espana-based team while blue paper strips to raise for the Katipunan-based team.

Incidentally, these two teams, UST and Ateneo are the two of the top three teams who competed in the recently concluded Shakey’s V-League. UST is of course the back-to-back champions while the Ateneo Lady Eagles are the third placers.

What’s missing?

The UST Tigresses have been victims of players quitting the team. There are the likes of Lilet Mabbayad and Vida Gutierrez who quit the team because of personal reasons. Aiza Maizo who prioritized more her studies than volleyball. Cherry Ann Balse who moved to Davao to study. These four girls somewhat made UST lost their chance but stayed upbeat and in-game as the presence of Mary Jean Balse and Venus Bernal are widely felt. Maria Angelli Tabaquero is performing sub-par as she is playing with several injuries. The dynamic duo of Venus Bernal and Mary Jean Balse are really the only threats for the UST team right now. The others are just new and still picking up volleyball skills. Teamwork and floor defense will be crucial roles in their game against FEU.

The Ateneo Lady Eagles meanwhile, for the past few games, has been relying too much on MVP leading candidate Charo Soriano, with the help of veteran player and setter Karla Bello. Patricia Lynn Taganas’ sub-par performance is quite understandable because of her injury last Shakey’s V-League. Come to think of it, the team is still young. They have two rookies in the starting six and the other one is a sophomore plus the fact that the team’s best blocker Bea Pascual had an ACL injury in their 1st Round game against Adamson. This team has been unfortunate in injuries. We’ll see though how they will perform in the Final Four with a twice-to-beat disadvantage and likewise, the hearts of the Ateneans will be tested in this game.

Come to think of it, Ateneo and UST are talented teams. THey just need to fix a couple of problems and maybe they can beat their opponents twice. Incidentally, these two teams will meet opponents whom they haven’t really given a tough-beating. These fans still believe in their team and the gold side would say, “Let’s Go Fight!” while the blue side would say, “We Still Believe!”

Are they really capable of beating their opponents twice? They’ve done it before in V-League where they both swept FEU and Adamson. Can they do it here in the UAAP?

We’ll see.

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