Ateneo de Manila University overwhelmed University of the East (UE) with superior firepower to essay a 25-21, 25-17, 25-22 victory in the first phase of the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-season Championship classification round Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Setter Taks Fujimoto orchestrated the Blue Eagles’ balanced offense with good ball distribution to silence the Lady Warriors and advance into the next stage against College of Saint Benilde.

The battle for fifth between Ateneo and Saint Benilde in the tournament backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, GCash, Chery Tiggo, F2 Logistics, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner, R and B Milk Tea and Summit Water is set on 16 November.

“I think this classification is about proving ourselves, proving that we can fight even though it’s not the championship. But along the way we learn and I know naman we can show coach Sergio’s (Veloso) system,” said Fujimoto, who had 12 excellent sets and three points.

Geezel Tsunashima and Lyan De Guzman led 10 other Blue Eagles who chipped in on offense in the one-hour and 35-minute match with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Tsunashima and De Guzman scored all their points from attacks.

AC Miner and Faye Nisperos had seven points each while Sophia Buena and Jennifer Delos Santos added six apiece for Ateneo, which rained down 52 attack points and landed seven aces.

After cruising in the first two sets, the Blue Eagles had a scare in the third frame after the Lady Warriors made a telling run to overhaul a four-point deficit.

UE erased Ateneo’s 18-14 advantage with a 5-1 counterattack to knot the set at 19 after back-to-back kill blocks by Riza Nogales.

The Blue Eagles answered with a 5-1 run of their own to reach match point, 24-20, only to commit two straight errors which gave the Lady Warriors a chance for a comeback.

Tsunashima put the game away with a crisp crosscourt kill.

Casiey Dongallo was the lone UE player in double figures with 10 points while Jelai Gajero and KC Cepada were limited to just seven each.

The Lady Warriors battle University of the Philippines in the classification for seventh to eighth place in the SSL’s centerpiece competition, which has Smart Sports, PLDT Fibr, Mikasa, Asics, Rebel Sports, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Commission on Higher Education, Philippine Sports Commission, and SM Tickets as technical partners.