ADMU Lady Blue Spikers

Ateneo Lady Eagles
Short name ADMU Lady Eagles
Nickname Lady Eagles
Manager Anthony "Tony Boy" Liao
Ramona Jessica Bagatsing
Captain Alyssa Valdez
League University Athletic Association of the Philippines
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ADMU Lady Blue Spikers
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Women's Volleyball
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UAAP Season 72 ADMU
National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA 1976-1977 ADMU
Shakey's V-League
SVL Season 12 Collegiate Conf. ADMU
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SVL Season 9 1st Conference ADMU
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SVL Season 7 1st Conference ADMU
SVL Season 5 1st Conference ADMU
SVL Season 4 2nd Conference ADMU
International
2014 ASEAN University Games PHI

The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers is the collegiate women's varsity volleyball team of the Ateneo de Manila University that plays in the women’s volleyball division of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the premiere amateur collegiate sports league in the Philippines. They are presently (2008-2015 period) considered a volleyball powerhouse.

History

The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Blue Spikers is a collegiate women's varsity volleyball team in the Philippines that was formed in 1975. They first played competitive volleyball when they joined the NCAA (Philippines) in season 51 (1975-76). The following year season 52 (1976-77), the Lady Blue Spikers won their first and only NCAA women's volleyball championship. The Lady Blue Spikers were not able to repeat as champions in the NCAA due to Ateneo de Manila's transfer to another sports league. In 1978, Ateneo transferred to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). However, the title drought continued in the UAAP. It was after 37 years when the drought ended. The first title of the team in the UAAP came in season 76 (2013-14). It seems that the Lady Blue Spikers were making up for those 37 unproductive years. They won again the UAAP title the following year, season 77 (2014-15). While they have won only a total of two (2) titles so far these championships are back-to-back. In the NCAA, volleyball competition was introduced in season 51 (1975-76). The Lady Blue Spikers were the second volleyball team to have won the women's volleyball title.

Volleyball Championships
Lady Blue Spikers
NCAA (1)
  • Season 52 (1976–77)
UAAP (2) Season 76 (2013–14) [1]
Season 77 (2014–15) [2]

In the UAAP, Ateneo has won two championships so far since transferring from the NCAA in 1978. These titles were won by the Lady Blue Spikers in Season 76 (2013–14) and Season 77 (2014–15) finally ending a title drought of more than 30 years in UAAP volleyball. Prior to their championships, the Lady Blue Spikers had six Final Four appearances (Season 70, 72, 73, 74, 75 and 76) with a second seed and twice-to-beat advantage in season 74 and 75. In season 72 (2009), all three Ateneo varsity volleyball teams were in the Final 4. Season 77 (2014) marked the growing success of the Ateneo volleyball program. The men's, women's and boys' volleyball teams all made it to the Finals.

The Lady Blue Spikers ended a 36-year title drought in the UAAP when it won its first ever title in UAAP season 76 [3] (2013–14). This title was a result of the invigorated volleyball program implemented in the mid 2000s. Sherwin Malonzo was appointed head of this new program. In season 71 (2008–09), Roger Gorayeb, a multi-titled coach was hired as head coach of the Lady Spikers. UAAP season 71 also marked the time that Ateneo started to recruit high school players. Five blue-chip high school players (Fille Cainglet, Jem Ferrer, Dzi Gervacio, Gretchen Ho and A Nacachi) were recruited and who were latter dubbed the Fabulous Five by the Ateneo community and fans. Another group, consisting of three high school players, were recruited the following year, season 2009. One of whom was Aerieal Patnongon who stands at 6' 0". Season 2010 was not only another bumper year in recruitment but also an exciting one as Ateneo hit the jackpot when prized-rookie Alyssa Valdez, a hotly-recruited high school volleyball player was among the 5 high school players recruited that year. [4] She was a national youth volleyball team standout dubbed the "Phenom" by the sports press [5] and two-time (back-to-back) MVP in UAAP high school volleyball. Alyssa Valdez would later break the UAAP women's volleyball record in most points scored in a game on her second year of playing in the league. On January 20, 2013, she scored 35 points (31 spikes, 3 blocks and 1 service ace) in the second round elimination game against Adamson. The standing record before her record breaking performance was 33 points set by an Adamson player in February 14, 2009. Ateneo continued to recruit players in season 74 (2011–12). Mary Mae Tajima was recruited from Ateneo de Davao. Standing at 6' 1", she is the women's volleyball team's tallest player ever.

Ateneo has been recruiting groups of five players from time to time over the years. The 2008 batch is referred to as the Fabulous Five or Fab 5 by the Ateneo community and fans. The 2010 and 2013 batches were all members of the Ateneo team that made history by winning Ateneo's first volleyball championship in the UAAP women's volleyball senior division.

Main article: Fab five (Ateneo)

Class of 2008

Class of 2010

Class of 2013

  • Kassarandra Miren "Kim" Gequillana
  • Ana Laureen "Änn" Gopico
  • Jamie Isabelle "Jay" Lavitoria
  • Julia Melissa "Jia" Morado
  • Michelle Kathereen "Mich" Morente

Class of 2014

  • Isabel Beatriz "Bea" De Leon
  • Frances Karen Derder
  • Therese Marie Marguerette Gaston
  • Madeleine Yrenea "Maddie" Madayag
  • Katrina Mae "Kat" Tolentino

In the Shakey's V-League, a summer tournament which the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers use as a preparation for the UAAP tournament, their mother league, they won their first major championship in thirty-five years when it won the 8th (2011) Shakey's V-League 1st Conference, a pre-UAAP season tournament. In this championship game, the Ateneo player that stood above everybody else was rookie Alyssa Valdez. The 17-year-old prized-recruit made it all possible. Her coach for this tournament, Charo Soriano a former star Lady Blue Spikers herself, had this to say about the prized recruit, "She really pulled it through for us". It was one big and glorious night for Alyssa Valdez and the mighty Ateneo women's volleyball squad.[6]

In UAAP season 74 (2011–12), the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers ended the elimination round with 11 wins in 14 games, their best elimination round record in 33 seasons in the UAAP. For the first time ever, they were seeded second in the Final 4 with a twice-to-beat advantage. The Lady Blue Spikers did not find it necessary to use this advantage as they beat their opponent, UST, in Game 1 of their Final 4 series. With this win, they advanced for the first time to the Finals and had the defending champion De La Salle as their opponent. La Salle swept the elimination round and thus had a thrice-to-beat advantage in the Finals. This means that they have to win only twice in the Finals while Ateneo had to win three times to clinch the title. The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers have not won over La Salle in the last four years. This losing streak was broken by the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers when they won Game 1 of the Finals. This was La Salle's first and only loss of the season. This win put the Finals series on equal terms. Unfortunately, the Ateneo Lady Spikers lost the next two games and their chance for their first UAAP championship. Despite the runner-up finish, Season 74 was considered a good year for the Ateneo Lady Spikers. Aside from the first-time achievements mentioned above, there were several more. For the first time, the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers beat Adamson and UST twice in a season, had 13 wins in a season, won in the Final 4 stage and had a rookie (Alyssa Valdez) who scored 30 points in one game.

The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers were able to successfully defend their Shakey's V-League Season 8 1st Conference title, emerging as champions of the 1st Conference of Season 9 held in the summer of 2012. They were undefeated in the preliminary, quarter and semi-final rounds of the tournament. The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers defeated the UST Golden Tigresses in their Best-of-Three series in the Finals. This made them a back-to-back champion team. Awarded the Finals MVP plum was Alyssa Valdez who scored 31 points (22 Attacks 8 Service Aces 1 Block) in Game 2 of the Finals. She scored a total of 73 points in the Finals series (59 Attacks 11 Service Aces 3 Blocks). The Lady Blue Spikers garnered their second championship of the year 2012 when they won the 2012 Tuguegarao City Open Invitational held in June 24–30, 2012. They did this in dominating fashion. They did not lose a single set on their way to claiming the championship and the Php500,000.00 top prize.

In order to finally get that elusive first championship in the UAAP Women's Volleyball Division, Head Coach Roger Gorayeb changed his recruitment strategy. For Season 75 (2012–13), he recruited only high school players who are college-play ready. Still, the Lady Spikers fell short. They made it to the Finals for the second consecutive year. However, it was a replay of Season 74 as the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers again faced and were defeated by the De La Salle Lady Spikers in the Finals.

The Lady Blue Spikers were not as successful. In their first tournament in 2013, the Shakey's V-League 10th Season 1st Conference, they failed to defend their crown as back-to-back defending champions when they lost to NU in the Finals of the tournament. Shortly after the end of the tournament, Roger Gorayeb, Ateneo's head coach of the women's volleyball team since 2008 stepped down in July 2013. In an effort to sustain the gains made by the Lady Blue Spikers under the watch of Gorayeb, Ateneo hired Anusorn "Tai" Bundit as the women's volleyball team trainer in September 2013. Bundit is the coach of the national women's juniors volleyball team of Thailand, a volleyball powerhouse in Asia. Tai Bundit's status was later changed to head coach. The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers also went to Thailand during their school year 2013-14 semestral break for a more intensive training.

Ateneo wrote history in UAAP Season 76. In March 15, 2014, the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers won their first championship in the UAAP. It was a historic title. For the third consecutive season, their opponent in the Finals was the De La Salle Lady Spikers. This time they beat La Salle. The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers, a third-seeded team, completed one of the greatest upsets in league history in beating La Salle which swept all of their fourteen elimination round matches. They ended La Salle's three-year reign as champions and also snapped La Salle's 30-game winning streak since UAAP Season 75 when it beat the latter in the Finals Game 1 of Season 76. They will go down in UAAP history as the first women's volleyball team to have overcome a thrice-to-beat disadvantage in the Finals, a feat achieved by only one other team in the UAAP in another sporting event (when UP swept DLSU in UAAP Season 76 Women's Table Tennis Finals in 3 games). They were the first ever non-top seed varsity team in the UAAP to win the championship through the league's postseason stepladder format. The road to the championship was full of obstacles. They had to win 5 do-or-die matches in the process - starting with 3 in the step-ladder Semifinals (first against fourth-seeded Adamson University Lady Falcons, and then against second-seeded National University Lady Bulldogs which had a twice-to-beat advantage) and 2 in the Finals against defending champion La Salle Lady Spikers. Team captain Alyssa Valdez was the Season and Finals Most Valuable Player, and also became the first ever UAAP athlete to win 4 awards in one season (which included Best Scorer and Best Server awards).

In December 2014, the collegiate women's varsity volleyball team of the Ateneo de Manila University, the Lady Blue Spikers represented the Philippines in the 17th ASEAN University Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia. This is the first time that the Philippines is represented in the women's volleyball tournament of the ASEAN University Games. The Lady Blue Spikers won the bronze medal. This is the first medal finish in international women's volleyball competition for the Philippines since winning bronze in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

Ateneo continued to write history in UAAP Season 77 (2014–15). The Lady Blue Spikers achieved a first when they swept the elimination round of Season 77, 14-0. This sweep means that the Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers did not allow the La Salle Lady Spikers to win a single game against them in the elimination rounds, a first for the Lady Blue Spikers since UAAP Season 71. This sweep also earned the Lady Blue Spikers an automatic slot to the Finals for the first time with a thrice-to-beat advantage. The Lady Blue Eagles did more than that in UAAP Season 77. They also swept their post season games to become the first team in 11 seasons to complete an unbeaten campaign. Season 77 signaled the beginning of the success of the Ateneo volleyball program. All three varsity volleyball teams (men's, women's and juniors) of Ateneo in the UAAP were in the Finals.The women's volleyball team also won its second championship in Season 77 when they swept second-seeded De La Salle University in 2 straight matches (6 straight sets). The sweep achieved a 16-0 season record (elimination rounds to championship round), a first for any UAAP women varsity team in the Final Four era. Ateneo's recruitment program which is a key component of the volleyball program has been successful in recruiting highly prized players. Alyssa Valdez of the Lady Blue Spikers, who was products of this robust recruitment program, were back-to-back (Season 76 and 77) UAAP MVPs, while Rongomaipapa Amy Ahomiro of the Lady Blue Spikers was named Season 77 UAAP Finals MVPs. [7]

Roster

The Ateneo Lady Blue Spikers Volleyball Team


The Lady Blue Spikers Recruits Class of 2015
The Rookies

No. Name Position Height Weight High School
3 Ma. Deanna Izabella A. Wong Setter 5’ 7” 120 lbs. University of San Jose – Recoletos
8 Pauline Marie M. Gaston Middle Hitter 5' 8" 125 lbs. University of Santo Tomas
- Pamela R. Dungo Libero 5' 5" 125 lbs. Salesian HS - Richmond California USA
4 Jennelle Marie A. Lo Libero 5' 3" 110 lbs. De La Salle Lipa
- Kathryna T. Quiambao Libero 5' 5” 115 lbs. Immaculate Conception Academy-Greenhills
- Felicia Marie B. Cui Outside Hitter 5' 4" 115 lbs. De La Salle Zobel
- Patricia Therese G. Co Outside Hitter 5 '7” 120 lbs. Jubilee Christian Academy

Training Pool

No. Name Position Height Weight Play Yr. College Yr. High School
12 Julia Melissa Morado Setter 5' 6" 120 lbs. 3rd Junior Colegio San Agustin – Makati
(17) Maria Beatriz Dominique Tan Outside Hitter 5' 6" 120 lbs. 4th Senior University of St. La Salle - Bacolod
4 Ana Laureen Gopico Middle Hitter 5' 10" 130 lbs. 1st Sophomore Colegio San Agustin – Makati
10 Katrina Mae D. Tolentino Opposite Hitter 6' 1" 140 lbs. 1st Sophomore R.A. McMath Sec Sch - Richmond
British Columbia Canada
- Jirah Llaneta Outside Hitter 5' 7.5" - lbs. 1st - Perpetual Help University – Molino

Coaching Staff

  • Head Coach: Anusorn "Tai" Bundit
  • Assistant Coaches:
  • Strength & Conditioning Coach:
    • Justin Santos

Team Staff

  • Team Manager: Anthony "Tony Boy" Liao
  • Asst. Team Manager: Ramona Jessica Bagatsing
  • Student Managers:
    • Synjin Sergio Reyes
  • Team Utility:

Medical Staff

  • Team Physician:
  • Team Physical Therapist: Bethel Solano

Notable players

See also

References

  1. ↑ "United they fly: How the ADMU Lady Eagles became UAAP vball champs".
  2. ↑ "UAAP: Ateneo shuts out La Salle for perfect season, wins second straight women's volleyball title".
  3. ↑ "United they fly: How the ADMU Lady Eagles became UAAP vball champs".
  4. ↑ "Valdez sparks Ateneo's back-to-back crowns". Rapple.com. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  5. ↑ "High school phenom in spotlight as UAAP volleyball starts". Gmanetwork.com. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  6. ↑ "Ateneo bags first V-League crown". Manila Bulletin. 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  7. ↑ "Ateneo de Manila became the first UAAP women's volleyball team to go 16-0 in a season".
  8. ↑ "UAAP champion Ateneo, UST open Shakey's V-League Collegiate Conference - CNN Philippines Staff".
  9. ↑ "UCONNHUSKIES 2015 Roster".
  10. ↑ "Alyssa Valdez bags back-to-back MVP in women's volleyball".
  11. ↑ "USLS-IH claims title in SGVL - The Visayan Daily Star April 8, 2011".
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