ONE RANK down from last year’s overall standings, the Ateneo de Manila University stood at fourth place in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 76 General Championship Tally.
The Ateneo trailed the two-peat champion De La Salle University (DLSU), second seed University of Santo Tomas (UST) and third place University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD) with 289, 270, and 235 points, respectively.
Ateneo’s performance was a reflection of all of the athletes’ hard work and dedication. The Lady Eagle’s leader, Alyssa Valdez, speaks for all of the athletes in the Ateneo that every training session was not put to waste. “Our sacrifices were all worth it, not just [the volleyball team’s] efforts, but also all of the athletes in Ateneo.”
With the season’s wrap last March, here’s an overview of team Ateneo’s fight for the blue and white glory.
Season recap
Under the raging heat, the power duo of Bea Tan and Valdez battled several pairings which led to a third-place finish in the beach volleyball tournament.
In the martial arts arena, the Blue and Lady Jins concluded their season with both fifth place rankings. Despite this, the latter managed to win the bronze medal at the Poomsae event— a competition showcasing Taekwondo forms with music accompaniment.
In Los Baños, Laguna, the Blue Tankers finished strong at third place, unable to reclaim the championship title. The Lady Tankers remained in second behind the five-time champion UPD.
On the field, the Lady Booters fought through draws and losses, finishing at third place.
Back at the gymnasium, despite the loss of national team player Mighty Ignacio, the Blue Fencers managed to rank third overall. The Lady Fencers, on the other hand, came off a point short against Far Eastern University, denying them an overall bronze finish.
The following teams remained behind the pack, placing in the lower half standings of their competitions: Women’s Basketball team, Blue Beach Spikers, Blue Babble Battalion, Blue and Lady Paddlers, Lady Batters, Blue and Lady Wood Pushers, Blue and Lady Tracksters, Blue and Lady Netters, and Blue Booters.
Making the headlines
UAAP Season 76 was historical for the Ateneo sports, the highlights being the men’s basketball and women’s volleyball tournaments.
With the loss of key players and a veteran coach, the Ateneo Blue Eagles struggled to deliver plays throughout their games. At a 7-6 win-loss record, the Blue Eagles battled in an elimination game against UST. The Tigers defeated the Blue Eagles, ending the championship reign of the latter and denying them of a final four slot—a position the Blue Eagles have been in since 1999.
After this shift of scenario in the first semester, the whole UAAP community was in for a shock in the second half of the year.
With the team’s young, new roster, the Ateneo Lady Eagles outlasted six do-or-die matches—one in the eliminations, two in the semi-finals and three in the finals against Adamson University, National University and DLSU, respectively.
For the first time in the UAAP, the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball team clinched the much-coveted championship crown—an achievement they failed to snatch from their arch rival, DLSU, for the past two seasons.
The team attributed this triumph to their new coach, Anusorn “Tai” Bundhit, who instilled and popularized a “heartstrong” mindset throughout the series.
When asked on her assessment of Ateneo’s volleyball program, Valdez shares how proud she is of team Ateneo. “It really was amazing, as even the men’s team placed second.” The Lady Eagles’ counterpart, the Men’s Volleyball team, made their mark in the arena as well, landing second to end their season.
Besides this extreme turn-of-events, there were also other Ateneo teams that fulfilled their season goal. The Blue and Lady Judokas claimed the championship and the second place titles, respectively, while the Blue and Lady Shuttlers dominated season 76.
The Shuttlers’ record-clean sweep during the eliminations paved their way to winning the championship. It was the latter’s consecutive flawless win-loss standing and title in the UAAP.
Similarly, the Blue Batters defeated DLSU in two straight games. It was their first sweep in the finals after forcing a third bout for the past two years, completing a back-to-back championship.
The backbone
Behind all of these successes were the Ateneo athletes who stepped up last season, giving their respective squads a boost.
Blue Batter Andy Tan was named the season’s Most Valuable Player in their back-to-back title stint. New players Bianca Carlos of the Women’s Badminton team and Marck Espejo of the Men’s Volleyball team were both named Rookie of the Year (ROY) and MVP in their leagues.
Blue Judokas Rap Sapi and Matthew Jao were also awarded with ROY and MVP, respectively, for their exceptional performances.
Additionally, Ateneo Lady Eagles team Captain Valdez notched a handful of awards, reaping Best Scorer, Best Server, MVP and Finals MVP, all at the same time.
Co-veteran and Libero, Dennise Lazaro, also stood out by being one of the only two UAAP volleyball athletes to be named Best Libero and Best Receiver in one season.
Scanning 76
With all of these unfolded, the Ateneo sports community carried different opinions on last year’s tournament and the upcoming season.
Bianca Ventilacion, a junior political science student who has been watching Ateneo vigilantly in the league since season 74, shares, “I find Ateneo’s Season 76 overall performance a little bit below par.” She adds that the performances she watched were full of surprises. She explains that the pre-season performances were contradictory to the end results of the UAAP season, such as the Blue Eagles’ FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup victory against DLSU.
Despite the Blue Eagles’ loss, the Lady Eagles’ come-from-behind rally gave Ateneo leverage. When asked about the opposite fates of their teams, Valdez quips, “Pana-panahon lang ‘yan. Wala naman nag-eexpect na papasok kami [in the final four]. ‘Yung basketball naman, kahit anong mangyari, alam naman natin na magperperform sila. Siyempre, kinapos sila dahil kinapos lang sila sa tao.(Everybody has their own time. No one expected that we will get in. With the basketball team, no matter what happens, we know that they’ll perform. Of course, they just fell short because they lacked players).”
As for College Athletics Office Coordinator Benjo Afuang, he shares that they were generally pleased with Ateneo’s performance. “Although we placed fourth in the overall standings, I believe we were more competitive in the various disciplines as compared to the previous years.”
With a few weeks left until the start of the tournament, former team captain of the Lady Shuttlers and defending UAAP champion Dia Magno expresses her wishes for Team Ateneo this season 77: “I hope that all the athletes of the different sports can improve on their performances compared to season 76 and never lose in them the will to win. [I wish] for every Atenean athlete [to have] the heart of a champion and [for] the champion teams to be hungrier and defend the titles.”
With a theme “Unity and Excelennce,” the UAAP Season 77 hosted by University of the East kicks off on July 12 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
