The 24-26, 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 19-17 match was capped by the Lady Eagles as the Lady Falcons Rizza Cruz made two consecutive errors in the last set from one touch in the net and an outside hit, 18-17.

Waiting for another deuce, Falcons slipped their minds by making a four-touch error in the match point and gave the victory to the Katipunan-based squad, 19-17.

Despite undergoing a thrilling five-set match, Nisperos who poured 26 attacks, four aces, and a block shared her joy and expressed how proud she is of the team for not giving up and fighting until the end.

While Vanie Gandler nailed 14 kills for 15 points including 11 digs to help Nisperos inside the court, it was not enough to easily ensure the win as Trisha Genesis of the Falcons poured 16 points and the other three players contributed twin digits performance.

“I guess all my players stepped up. We just had to play the right way. When we play tense, we tend to make mistakes. We have to be sound fundamentally. We have to do good in everything we do,” said Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro.

“Nothing special, nothing spectacular. I just asked our players, ever since we started doubtful, but we’re getting our faith and we’re getting our confidence,” he added.

Ateneo is now set to face its rival school on Tuesday, De La Salle University (DLSU) while Adamson will go against the University of the Philippines (UP).