ATENEO de Manila and Far Eastern University (FEU) return to action against winless opponents at the resumption of Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball action today at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
But Ateneo will play Adamson University starting at 4 p.m. without Head Coach Tai Bundit, who flew to Bangkok for his mother-in-law’s wake. Assistant Coach Sherwin Meneses will call the shots against the Lady Falcons.
FEU, on the other hand, face similarly winless but dangerous University of the East (UE) in the 2 p.m. match.
Ateneo came from behind to beat FEU, 25-19, 24-26, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11, in its last outing, a hard-earned victory that continued to reveal flaws in the Lady Eagles’ chemistry.
Ateneo opened the season with a loss to National University, but came back strong against University of Santo Tomas and found itself tied with archrival and defending champion De La Salle on a 2-1 win-loss record.
The Lady Spikers were shocked by the vastly improved University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, 22-25, 21-25, 19-25, to also reveal vital weaknesses in their armor.
Meneses admitted the team is still adjusting to the post-Alyssa Valdez era, but stressed he has the material in setter Jia Morado and spikers Jho Maraguinot, Bea de Leon, Michelle Morente, Kat Tolentino and Maddie Madayag that would make them contenders anew this season.
“I am seeing continuous improvement, especially in the players’ attitude. Coach Tai and I are happy so far with the balanced scoring that we are seeing,” Meneses said. “I hope we keep on improving and maintain this up to the end.”
The Lady Tamaraws are hoping to improve on their 1-2 card when they take on the Lady Red Warriors, who, despite losing their first three matches, gave all their opponents a scare.
In men’s play, back-to-back defending champion Ateneo (3-0) tries to preserve its perfect record when it battles Adamson University (0-3) at 10 a.m. FEU (2-1) and UE (0-3) take the court at 8 a.m.