MANILA, Philippines -- The Ateneo de Manila Lady Eagles overwhelmed the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons in straight sets to win their fourth game in the UAAP Season 74 women's volleyball tournament Sunday afternoon at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Eagles sent the Lady Maroons to their fifth straight loss with scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-12.

Ateneo showed their strong offensive game in the first set, with rookie Alyssa Valdez and team captain Fille Cainglet taking advantage of good sets from Jem Ferrer.

UP was able to keep the first set close and even tied the game at 8-all. But after the first technical timeout, the Lady Eagles took over, scoring five straight points to post a 14-9 lead.

The Lady Maroons never recovered from that scoring run, and Ateneo coach Roger Gorayeb even subbed out his starters after the Lady Eagles took a 20-10 lead.

But the second set was a completely different affair as strong play from Southlyn Ramos and Angeli Araneta allowed UP to keep the set close all the way.

UP was ahead 20-18 in the second set before Cainglet took over to score three of Ateneo's next five points and pull them ahead, 23-20. UP would only score one more point as the Lady Eagles clinched the set on an Ella de Jesus' kill.

"We were too relaxed," Cainglet admitted when asked of their struggles in the second set. "We were playing along, and we had a lot of errors."

The Lady Maroons could not muster enough challenge in the third set, allowing Ateneo to close out the match.

Cainglet was named player of the game after scoring 15 points on 11 attacks, three blocks and one service ace. Valdez also scored 15 points.

Meanwhile, no one from UP was able to break into double digits, as Araneta only scored seven points while Jezza Lasmarias added six.

The Lady Eagles will close out the first half of the UAAP volleyball season on December 21 when they take on the streaking Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws.

In the first game, the University of Sto. Tomas Tigresses outclassed the National University Lady Bulldogs, winning in straight sets: 25-11, 25-21, 25-18.

It was the fourth straight win for the Tigresses, who started the season with two straight setbacks but have since found their winning form.

Maru Banaticla led a balanced UST attack with 15 points, while Maika Ortiz and Mia Hirotsuji each added eight points for the Tigresses.

Kai Nepomuceno had 12 points for the Lady Bulldogs.