The Social Sciences Dragons and Business and Management Vipers women volleyball players during their match. Photo by Hannah Lou Balladares
The Social Sciences (SS) Dragons and Business and Management (B&M) Vipers went head to head last August 1 as they vied for the ticket to the finals of the Women’s Volleyball of Palarong Atenista 2016. Dragons slayed Vipers in a sweep, ending the match in two straight sets, 25-15, 25-21, bagging the golden ticket to the championship.
A sea of blue and pink flooded the bleachers of 7th floor, Martin hall as B&M and SS divisions clash in the volleyball field, and a series of cheers echoed as supporters of each division cheered for their players.
The SS Dragons took full advantage of B&M’s miscues and miscommunications early in the first set, sporting an 8-0 run giving them a 9-1 advantage in the scoreboard. This forced the Vipers into calling a timeout early in the set to talk things over and regroup.
After the timeout, B&M went into a four-point rally and it was now SS’s time to call a break. But, as the match progressed, the Vipers were still plagued with unforced errors and miscues leading SS to pull away. By the time they scored their last point, SS was already up by 7 points, 22-15.
A long rally near the end of the set put everyone on their toes but an attack courtesy of Kiana Casio from SS capped it off and led her team to set point. An error by BM hands SS the set.
Contrary to the first set, the second set was more of a see-saw match between the two teams. The minute the Dragons started to pull away, the Vipers came back, led by their Team Captain, Jeriza Uy.
It looked to be more in favour of B&M halfway to the set. They gained a 3-0 run, nailing the Dragons’ score at 14, thanks to the errors on the SS side. This forced the latter to call timeout. It was now SS’s time to be terrorized with unforced errors.
However, Team Captain Ysabel Foronda rallied her team and delivers a strong spike to get them just two points away from taking the match after an ace from Casio and an attack error from B&M.
Despite trailing earlier, the SS Dragons squeaked past long rallies late in the set after a block from Foronda denied B&M a point, leading her squad to match point. An error from the Vipers handed them the win and the coveted ticket to the final round of the tournament.
After the match, Foronda shared that she and her team felt more inspired.
“The B&M Vipers put up a good fight yesterday and inspired us to do much better on our road to the final. We just gave it our best and made sure that we also had fun,” she said.
SS Dragons now wait for their championship match-up versus the winner of this Friday’s match between the School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) Tigers and the Accountancy (BSA/AT) Griffins.
The women’s volleyball finals will be on August 13, 3 P.M., at 7th floor, Martin Hall.