If you are an Ateneo Volleyball fan, you will agree with me by saying that it’s amazing how the team progressed over the years. Eight years ago, the Ateneo was not really that competitive. To put it kindly, you can just say that they were actually deprived of wins. However, things changed when the trio of Charo Soriano, Patti Taganas and Karla Bello joined the team. Soriano came from Poveda while Taganas and Bello were from Miriam College.  In their first year, they won three matches against Adamson, NU and FEU. This was huge considering the team was the perennial doormat and never won before.
 
Years after that, Ateneo would eventually challenge the upper echelon squads but was unable to progress to the Final Four. They would settle for 5th or 6th such as in Season 69 when they almost made it but a 5-set upset loss to UP had them packing home and gave UE the last Final Four slot.
 
Things changed though the following year when the lefty Kara Acevedo (from Immaculate Conception Academy) and a tall middle blocker Crystal Ballentyne (from Faith Academy) joined the team. The team had more defense and more offensive options which are why with the trio of the much-improved Soriano, Taganas and Bello plus Ballentyne and Acevedo, the team made it to the Final Four for the very first time. However, they were seeded fourth and faced the mighty and intact Adamson squad in the semis. They eventually lost in three sets. Despite this, it sent a strong message to the fans as well as to the supporters of the other UAAP volleyball teams.
 
When the famed coach Roger Gorayeb who led San Sebastian College’s volleyball teams to numerous titles over the years joined the squad along with former De La Salle Team Manager Tony Boy Liao in 2008, that became the end of the dark ages of Ateneo Volleyball and a beginning of a possible UAAP domination in the years to come. The first thing they did was to actually recruit four talented rookies tagged as the “Fab Four” to fill in the positions of the troika of Soriano, Taganas and Bello and the loss of Ballentyne due to academic reasons. The “Fab Four” which is known to us Ateneo fans is composed of Jem Ferrer (Hope Christian High School), Dzi Gervacio (St. Scholastica’s College Manila), Fille Cainglet (St. Scholastica’s College Manila) and Gretchen Ho (ICA).
 
Ferrer, a three-time Shakey’s Girls V-League MVP, had no second thoughts of going to Ateneo. Though there were offers from La Salle, UP, UST, FEU and many other schools, she immediately accepted the offer of an Ateneo education because she believes that Ateneo’s the best in this area. Of course, aside from that, she knew she can make a difference in the team and that she believes that in a year or two, the first UAAP championship trophy of the school is not that farfetched. Just a few days ago, she received the Best Setter besting out the other veteran setters of the league.
 
Gervacio and Cainglet were the Scions duo that made other high school teams cry back then. Fille, who has a sister who plays basketball for UP, is the 3-time WNCAA MVP and more classified as a smart player. Dzi, meanwhile, since high school, was known to be a powerful hitter. Back then, many fans weren’t really hoping for them to actually go to the Ateneo given the fact that their school is much closer to La Salle. But when Fille knew about the establishment of Ateneo med school, she and her parents immediately chose Ateneo. Of course, Dzi knows that Ateneo has the best law school which is why when she got accepted in AB Political Science, she confirmed her slot right away.
 
Gretchen Ho, with the influence of her high school classmates in ICA, really wanted Ateneo in the first place. However, volleyball was not in her mind when she went to Ateneo because of her Management Engineering course. But teammate Kara Acevedo actually convinced her because she has the skills and the talent to become a great player.
 
Compared to the team’s previous training regimen, Gorayeb introduced more intense sessions with a scientific approach. He makes sure that everyone’s properly conditioned and in the proper frame of mind.
 
If you regularly watch their training, you’d be surprised at how strict Coach Roger is with his team. He pushes them to do more and to strive harder.

Gorayeb also made sure to inject fresh plays in the game plan, rarities before he stepped in as head coach.
 
In this UAAP Season 72, the team was able to make it to the Final Four for a second time but with a better 10-4 record (the team finished 9-5 in Season 70 for fourth place) and with a third place finish to add to that. The team was able to beat UST for the first time in UAAP play, FEU after 6 years and Adamson after 7 years. It was a bit historic for Team Ateneo but I know and everyone knows that it’s just probably the start, a start of winning more games and probably winning more championships in the future.
 
Back then, the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team is not really a team who recruits that heavily. Most of the time, the players of Ateneo are walk-ins and since they are not really that competitive no player is not that interested to play and study for Ateneo. But now, there are a lot of talents who really want to get in. Aside from the education, the high school players stated that they want to be coached by no less than Coach Roger Gorayeb while the others want to help Ateneo win its first UAAP championship and possibly, championships.
 
As someone who has been supporting the team for years, I have a feeling that it’s going to be Ateneo’s year next season. It’s probably the strongest line-up that Ateneo will have in many years. By next year, there are more tall players and a deeper bench. Even Mozzy Ravena, mother of Ateneo High School player Kiefer Ravena and a legendary volleyball player from UST, said, “Ateneo will come up strong next season, given its intact line-up while La Salle with rookies Joanne Siy and Abigail Maraño playing well in their first year will be better next season.” So expect the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry to transpire in the women’s volleyball games next season since both teams will really be strong.
 
I hope that the other students and alumni would support not only the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team but also the Men’s. I assure you, their games are as exciting as the basketball games. In fact, it was really good to see the whole basketball team in the team’s Final Four game versus UST a few weeks back.

You would see Nico Salva, Bacon Austria, Frank Golla and many others cheering in the stands for our team. Like them, let us support and cheer for the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team to win their first UAAP championship title!
 
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Jannie Gavile is an Ateneo alumnus and diehard sports fan of Ateneo. You can see him most of the time wearing blue in not only at basketball and volleyball events but at other sporting events as well.