THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Beach Spikers competed at the opening matches of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 77 beach volleyball championships held at the University of the East Caloocan on August 23 to 24.
The Blue Beach Spikers, consisting of Jeriel Apelar, Ysay Marasigan and Karl Baysa as their bench player, opened their weekend by winning two matches and now stand at 2-1.
Meanwhile, the Lady Beach Spikers, composed by Michelle Morente, Jhoanna Maraguinot and Alyssa Valdez as their bench player, opened theirs with 0-3.
Blue Beach Spikers
The Ateneo Blue Beach Spikers defeated the De La Salle University (DLSU) in two sets on August 23, with the scores of 21-14 and 21-18.
On the same day, however, they lost to the University of Santo Tomas by dropping the last two sets, with the scores of 21-14, 12-21 and 12-15.
They made a comeback the following day with the team overpowering the University of the East (UE) in a three set thriller with the scores of 16-21, 21-12 and 15-13.
The superior in-game communication and fast reflexes from both Apelar and Marasigan proved to be dominant over to their DLSU and UE opponents
This great start was just what the Blue Beach Spikers needed, after coming up short last year and failing to enter the Final Four of the beach volleyball tournament. They have set their sights on entering the Final Four and winning these two matches definitely help in achieving that goal.
After starting off with a strong 4-0 lead in the first set, the Blue Beach Spikers were outmatched for long stretches, and eventually fell by five points, 16-21.
They also started off strong in the second set and built an early 5-2 lead. The Red Warriors bounced back like the first set, but the Blue Beach Spikers were more prepared during this time around.
Apelar paced the first couple of exchanges with several tips and scores, until Marasigan dominated in the last possessions to seal the win for the Blue Beach Spikers, 21-12.
The third set was closer compared to the previous two. No team could gather enough momentum to build a significant lead. The game was tied at 12, and no team could take advantage of the mistakes of the other. However, during the end of the game, Marasigan managed to pull off a couple of blocks to give Ateneo the lead, and finished it off with a spike with the score of 15-13.
All throughout the game, Marasigan scored with spikes, tips and blocks, frustrating UE into committing several mistakes down the stretch in the last sets.
The Blue Beach Spikers were proud of their wins. When asked about what he feels about the game, Apelar stressed that he just wants to win. “Feels good to win… Win baby, win! I just want to win; that’s all. Win every game.”
Marasigan also added that they want to get into the Final Four and see where going there takes them.
“We will force to win in every game,” he quipped. “Pipilitin namin manalo every game (We’re going to force to win every game).”
Lady Beach Spikers
It was a tough weekend for the Lady Beach Spikers as they conceded their matches to Adamson University (AdU), the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the Far Eastern University (FEU).
In their opening match against the defending champions AdU, the Lady Beach Spikers dropped two straight sets, with the scores of 10-21 and 20-22.
The following day, the Lady Beach Spikers conceded both matches to FEU and Season 76 runner-up UST.
After a valiant effort, showing hope by rallying to try and edge the lead, the Lady Beach Spikers unfortunately dropped both sets, with the scores of 16-21 and 11-21.
The same also happened with their match against FEU, as the Lady Beach Spikers dropped both sets, with the scores of 15-21 and 7-21.
For Morente, however, there were no expectations coming into this championship. It was all for the love of playing volleyball.
“Okay lang. Masaya, I guess. I mean, ewan ko, masaya naman maglaro ng volleyball (It’s okay. Happy, I guess. It’s fun to play volleyball).”
These sentiments were also shared by Maraguinot as she explained that these matches served as a good training ground for future games.
“Laro lang. Experience din naman manalo or matalo (Just play. Win or lose, it will still be an experience).”
The future of these teams is still bright as the UAAP beach volleyball competition still has a long way to go. Catch our Blue and Lady Beach Spikers at the University of the East Caloocan on August 27, 30 and 31 from 9:00 AM onwards.
