Lady Eagles eye first V-League title

Source: Manila Bulletin
With the hard-hitting Thai Keawbundit Sontaya and Charo Soriano in its fold, Ateneo is hoping to win its first-ever title in the Shakey’s V-League which opens shop on April 11 at The Arena in San Juan.

Since they joined the country’s biggest collegiate volleyball league in 2005, the Lady Eagles have never won a title although they came close to doing it in 2008 first conference.

That year, the Lady Eagles made it to the finals but they lost to the Adamson Lady Falcons.

Sontaya, a 5-foot-10 open spiker from Rattana Bundit University in Thailand, and Soriano are expected to provide the needed firepower that will bring the team to the Promise Land following a series of misfortunes.

Even coach Clint Malazo believes winning the championship in the opening conference of the seventh season is not impossible.

“We hope to bring our success in the UAAP to this year’s V-League, but the girls must double their effort to contend,” Malazo said in Filipino.

“Since Dzi Gervacio, Fille Cainglet, Gretchen Ho and Jem Ferrer came into the team, we haven’t reached the semis. But this time, we expect to enter the Final Four.”

Last year, Sontaya proved she deserved her spot in the team as normed 20 plus points per game.

Sontaya is the fifth Thai guest player of Ateneo, which also tapped the services Namphon Intuan, Jindarat Kanchana, Lithawat Kesinee and Em-Orn Phanusit in the past conferences.

Other members of the team are Bea Pascual, Kara Acevedo, libero Stephanie Gabriel, Misha Quimpo, Mona Bagatsing and Tash Faustino.

The Lady Eagles wound up a dismal seventh in last year’s first conference then lost to Far Eastern University in a playoff for the fourth semis slot in the second conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Sports Vision.