MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo de Manila University has had the second most successful women's volleyball program in the UAAP for the past decade. But is that run of excellence about to end?

Last season's record: 12-2

What happened in Season 79?

Projected to take a step backward in Season 79, the Ateneo Lady Eagles instead maintained their status as one of the best teams in the UAAP last year.

Even though they lost three-time MVP Alyssa Valdez to graduation, the Lady Eagles still rolled through the elimination round, with their two defeats coming against the Jaja Santiago-powered National University. They claimed two impressive wins over De La Salle University, the second of which came with top scorer Jho Maraguinot sitting out the game.

Setter and team captain Jia Morado got most of the credit for Ateneo's success. The brilliant playmaker was on another level in Season 79, regularly turning less-than-ideal first balls into perfect set-ups for Ateneo's spikers.

Also crucial was the return of Michelle Morente to the Lady Eagles after missing Season 78 due to academic deficiencies. Morente was their best all-around player, shoring up the team's defensive woes while serving as another option on offense.

The Lady Eagles was the No. 1 seed in the Final 4, where they survived a tough Far Eastern University team to advance to the finals for the sixth season in a row. There, they fell to archrival La Salle in two games.

• LOOK: UAAP Season 80 volleyball schedule

Key losses: Jia Morado, Michelle Morente, Gizelle Tan, Kim Gequillana
Key returnees: Bea de Leon, Maddie Madayag, Jho Maraguinot, Kat Tolentino

Now what?

There are no shortage of questions for the Ateneo Lady Eagles heading into UAAP Season 80. Not only did they lose two of their best players, they very nearly lost their coach as well.

Morado broke the hearts of the Ateneo faithful when she announced that she will not return for her final playing year, just a few hours after the Lady Eagles lost to La Salle in the Season 79 finals. A few months later, they lost Morente to academic issues once more and the utility spiker transferred to La Salle.

They moved on, participating in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference. There, disaster struck as Ateneo lost service specialist Kim Gequillana to an ACL injury.

The drama in Katipunan did not stop there. In October 2017, differences with the team led coach Tai Bundit – the man who led the Lady Eagles to back-to-back UAAP crowns – to be removed from his post. Several issues cropped up, from playing time to Bundit's famously harsh training program, and Bundit himself said that his relationship with the team was strained.

It took the intervention of Ateneo president Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ, to patch up the issues in the team. When the dust settled, Bundit stayed on as coach, even though Villarin acknowledged that there were plenty of problems that still needed to be resolved.

From there, the team forged on. They went on their usual training camp in Thailand, and by all accounts, things are going well so far with just a few days to go before the season.

"After everything that happened, it made us stronger naman," said newly minted team captain Maddie Madayag. "Nalagpasan na namin 'yung phase na 'yun. Every team has its problems. Siguro, it differs na lang on how people respond."

"We faced our problems talaga," she added. "It made us stronger as a team."

"I think the team has become super close with everything that's happened. All the obstacles and hardships that we went through has only made us stronger," added co-captain Kat Tolentino.

The Lady Eagles' legions of passionate fans are surely hoping that all the drama have been left in the off-season, because the team will need to be firing on all cylinders if they hope to make the Final 4 for the ninth season in a row.

What can we expect?

Ateneo managed to postpone its rebuilding phase for one season, but all signs point to the Lady Eagles going through a bit of an adjustment this year.

There are no shortage of spikers on their roster. They have two strong open hitters in Tolentino and Maraguinot, and a top caliber middle blocker in Bea de Leon. Madayag and Anna Gopico have proven that they can compete at a high level in the UAAP.

The question is, can their libero and their setter play well enough to put those attackers to good use? A visit to Ateneo's practice showed that Bundit is still choosing among four liberos, all of whom have yet to prove themselves at the collegiate level.

Deanna Wong, who was a libero last season, will be handed the keys to the Ateneo offense. She showed signs of promise during the PVL Collegiate Conference, but the UAAP is another matter entirely.

In the face of all these questions, the Lady Eagles are staying upbeat.

"We're going to rely on a lot of young players," admitted Madayag. "Pero we're confident in each other naman."

"I don't want anybody to expect anything," she added. "The team's just gonna play its game – the usually happy, heart strong. I guess, just expect that we'll give our best in every game, and no matter what happens, we know that we did our best."

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