THE ATENEO Blue Eagles were swept in straight sets by the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Spikers, 14-25, 13-25, in their final match of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 82 Men’s Beach Volleyball Tournament on Wednesday, October 2, at the Sands at SM by the Bay in Pasay City. This result marked the Ateneo’s seventh straight loss and left the squad without a win this season.

In the first set, DLSU’s Vince Maglinao turned the pressure on early with down-the-line attacks. Ateneo’s Abai Llenos responded with a smart 1-2 play set up by teammate Kurt Aguilar, 2-4, but unforced errors from the Blue Eagles allowed DLSU to pull away, 2-8. Right before the technical timeout (TTO), the Blue and White pulled back the deficit on a run fueled by Aguilar’s offense, 9-11. Ateneo’s Zolo Ligot made his tournament debut replacing Aguilar and made an immediate impact scoring from a drop ball. However, La Salle’s service aces and Ateneo errors conceded the first set to the Green Spikers, 25-14. 

Magalinao continued to be DLSU’s main offensive outlet in the second set, as both teams traded points early. Consecutive aces delivered by Magalinao’s teammate Ian Jumandos earned some breathing room for their side, 7-10. Ligot showed that Ateneo still had some life with a clean combination with Llenos, but Maglinao packed too much firepower for their defense to handle. DLSU substitute Jules De Jesus replaced Jumandos late in the set and won match point, 25-13.

Set Scores:

Ateneo-DLSU: 14-25, 13-25