MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Ateneo superstar Alyssa Valdez put on a performance for the ages to lead the Lady Eagles to a stunning come-from-behind win over arch-rivals De La Salle Lady Spikers in Game 2 of the UAAP Season 78 women's volleyball Finals Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

In front of a crowd of 20,541 fans, Valdez and the Lady Eagles showed the "heart strong" spirit that have led them to a pair of titles as they overhauled a two-set deficit en route to an 18-25, 28-26, 25-17, 25-16, and 15-11 victory.

The win allowed them to tie the best-of-three Finals series at one game apiece, after La Salle won the opener last Saturday in straight sets.

Valdez, who earlier in the day was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the third straight season, scored a season-high 34 points built on 32 attacks, powering through La Salle's net defense and her own fatigue as she extended her storied collegiate career for one final game.

"I guess it's team work," said Valdez after the game. "'Yung team work talaga, it really worked today. We're just happy that we played as a team today."

Jho Maraguinot had 15 points, including a clutch hit in the fifth set, and Bea De Leon added 12 markers for the Lady Eagles, while Jia Morado registered 70 excellent sets in the marathon two-hour, eight-minute showdown.

Two-set advantage

La Salle raced to a quick start in the opening set, leading by as much as ten points and fending off a late Ateneo fightback. The Lady Spikers took advantage of the Lady Eagles' spotty reception in the opener, scoring five aces in the first frame alone.

Ateneo looked well on its way to tying up the match as they led 24-20 in the second off an ace by Amy Ahomiro. The Lady Spikers, however, refused to give up, with Mika Reyes leading a remarkable comeback. Her quick hit sparked a 4-0 run that allowed La Salle to tie the set at 24-all.

Reyes, however, committed a service error that put Ateneo at set point anew, but back-to-back hitting errors – first by Valdez then by Kim Gequillana – gave La Salle a 26-25 advantage. A Valdez kill tied the set for the last time, 26-all, but Ara Galang and Kim Dy scored hits off the Ateneo blockers to cap the comeback.

"Well, you know Coach Tai (Bundit)," said Valdez. "He will always say na kahit lamang ng two sets ang kalaban, he says '0-0.' It's true naman. Hindi mo maiwasan na andoon pa rin 'yung times na maisip mo na, naka two sets na sila."

"But we had nothing to lose in this game," she stressed.

The Lady Eagles regrouped in the third set, racing to a 15-7 advantage and keeping La Salle at bay with Valdez simply powering her way through the Lady Spikers' net defense. Remarkably, it was substitute Therese Gaston, sent in to replace Kim Gequillana, who scored the final point of Set 3, hitting a spike off the La Salle blockers.

In the fourth, Ateneo pulled away from a tight 6-5 count with a 5-0 blast built on the steady serving of Jia Morado and even more attacks from Valdez. Morado capped the run with a service ace that dropped in the corner of zone one, much to the dismay of La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus.

In the end, however, it was La Salle's own errors that did them in. The Lady Spikers committed 12 miscues in the fourth set, giving Ateneo too many free points even as the Lady Eagles came through with 11 attack points of their own.

Default News template and player embed

Back and forth fifth set

Both teams traded points early in the fifth set, with Galang tying the frame for the last time at 5-all on yet another off-the-block kill.

But Maraguinot responded with an off-the-block kill of her own, and Valdez gave Ateneo the lead for good with a powerful attack from the backrow. The Lady Eagles kept their lead the rest of the way, even extending it to four points, 12-8, after Valdez scored via a combination play.

It was Reyes once again who rallied La Salle. The graduating middle blocker scored on a quick hit, then on an ace to cut the lead to two, and force Bundit to call a timeout.

Valdez, however, would not be denied. She crushed another spike off the La Salle blockers to give Ateneo a 13-10 lead, before moving to the backrow to serve. A mishit by Bea de Leon gave La Salle a sliver of space for a comeback, but Maraguinot came through with a clutch kill to reach match point, 14-11.

La Salle still had a chance, but Majoy Baron's attempt was blocked by Ahomiro, and the Lady Spikers were called for a double contact – their 33rd unforced error of the match.

"Fifth set, wala na," said Valdez. "Kahit ano nararamdaman mo, papaluin mon a lang ang bola. Tapos, pagtingin mo sa likod, nagchi-cheer lahat ng teammates mo."

"What more can you ask for?" she added.

The Lady Spikers were left dumbfounded at the call, thinking that the ball was still playable. But the official had gestured that the point belong to the Lady Eagles, who celebrated wildly as half of the jam-packed MOA Arena burst into applause and cheers.

Do-or-die

Kim Dy finished with 16 points on 13 attacks for La Salle, and for long stretches looked to be their best option offensively. Galang scattered 12 points, Reyes added 14, and Cyd Demecillo finished with 10 markers.

As a team, the Lady Eagles scored 63 points on attacks, while La Salle had 47. The Lady Spikers had nine blocks to Ateneo's, and eight aces to Ateneo's seven.

Remarkably, both teams had the same number of unforced errors – 33 points, but La Salle's came at the worst possible time.

The season will now go down to a final, do-or-die game on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.

"We have to look at the things we did right, and analyze all the things na ginawa naming mali and fix it during training," said Valdez. "And aside from physically, we need to prepare mentally for Saturday. It's Game 3 of the Finals. Mind over matter na ito."

For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.