THE BLUE and Lady Spikers are no strangers when it comes to overcoming handicaps. Despite having young rosters last year, both teams spiked their way to a third place finish.
With the cores still intact and a handful of rookies to boost their lineups this year, the Blue and Lady Spikers are aiming high.
New blood
Last year, the Blue Spikers achieved a milestone when they placed in the UAAP for the first time ever.
Blue Spikers veteran JR Intal said that the team didn’t expect to do so well last year. “The first goal we had was to win at least seven out of the 14 games,” he said. The Blue Spikers ended the first round with a 3-4 record but surged ahead in the second round, finishing with a 6-1 record.
“It was a really surprising comeback for us,” he said.
With the graduation of former UAAP MVP AJ Pareja, the men’s team knows that they have to exert more effort to maintain their position since the ex-captain covered a lot of ground defensively and offensively. Now, his shoes are being filled by rookies Ricci Gonzales, Raymond Cruz, Jerrick Lim and Bon Pinat.
While the rookies all have a height advantage, intense training is still needed. “Almost all of them are [relatively] new to volleyball,” he said. Intal pointed out Ricci Gonzales as a big addition to the first six, “He’s a high leaper and a strong spiker,” he added.
According to Intal, since the introduction of new Head Coach Boyet Delmoro, who is also coach of the University of Manila, the training regimen for the team has been changed. “Our trainings are harder and longer,” he added.
“Just beginning to peak”
Aside from regular training sessions, the team joined off-season tournaments to get a preview of this year’s competition.
The Blue Spikers clinched first place in the Ateneo Volleyball Cup. In both the Far Eastern University Volleyball Cup and LBC Men’s Volleyball Competition, they finished with two wins and two losses. More recently, they competed in the University Games (Unigames) held in Dumaguete.
In the Unigames, the team held promise in the beginning, but ended with a dismal run. After a heartbreaking loss in five sets to the College of St. Benilde on the first day, the team wilted during their second match against Foundation University, losing in three straight sets, 0-3.
On their last day, the Blue Spikers played back-to-back games, facing the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR) and the Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST). Ateneo lost its match against USJR in three straight sets, but closed out its Unigames campaign positively, knocking out EARIST in a well-fought five sets.
Despite their 1-3 standing in the Unigames, Team Captain Ed Ortega says that the team is “just actually beginning to peak.”
“Hopefully, when the season starts, paakyat pa rin yung performance (our performance will continue to improve),” says Ortega.
“We’ll invest more time in blocking, serving and floor defense.”
Like previous years, they are preparing for perennial contenders FEU, University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle University.
“[Our goal this season is to] finish at least third place again. But we’re taking it one step at a time,” says Intal.
Lady Spikers
After finishing fifth in the recently concluded Shakey’s V-League, the Ateneo Lady Spikers amped up their preparations for the upcoming UAAP season. They skipped on this year’s Unigames and instead went on a 12-day trip to Bangkok, Thailand with Ratta Bundit University as host.
While in Bangkok, the Lady Spikers played against different Thai teams almost every day. “We played against more experienced teams to help us with our skills,” senior Kara Acevedo said. Ella De Jesus, Bea Tan, Denn Lazaro, Alyssa Valdez and Amy Ahomiro are the new additions to this year’s Lady Spikers roster.
The Blue and Lady Spikers began their UAAP campaign with losses to their UST counterparts last November 27 at the Filoil Flying V Arena.
