ATENEO stopped the bleeding with a straight sets rout of University of the Philippines, 25-16, 25-20, 25-22, in the UAAP Season 85 women's volleyball tournament on Sunday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The Blue Eagles started strong then held their ground against the Fighting Maroons in two fiercely fought sets to snap out of a four-game losing streak that saw them descend into the school's worst start to a season in 12 years.
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The much-needed win enabled the Katipunan side to finish the first round of the eliminations on a high note, although the Blue Eagles, at 2-5 (win-loss) still have a lot of ground to make up to enter the Final Four picture.
Vanie Gandler led Ateneo with 17 points on 13 attacks, two blocks, and two aces.
"I give [all the credit] to my teammates [in this win]," said Gandler. "It's been quite a tough first round but hopefully we can use this win as a momentum [shifter] coming into the second round."
With Gandler and Faith Nisperos (14 points) in sync, the Blue Eagles came out swinging and dominated UP in attacks (40 to 28) en route to the team's first straight-set win of the season.
Captain Jewel Encarnacion was the lone bright spot for UP with 11 points on 10 attacks.
After falling to 1-5 (win-loss), the Fighting Maroons get one last shot at finishing Round 1 on a high note in a game against Adamson on Wednesday.
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