THE ATENEO Blue Spikers broke their 10-game winning streak with a loss to the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in five sets, 15- 25, 25- 22, 23- 25, 25-17, 13- 15, on Saturday, February 21, at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
This loss puts the Blue Spikers at 11-3 in the elimination round standings tied with the Tigers. As the last game of the elimination rounds, the Blue Spikers remains as the top seed and will face the Adamson Falcons in the Final Four.
To kick off the match, the starting six was composed of Josh Villanueva, Ysay Marasigan, Rex Intal, John Rivera, Marck Espejo, Ish Polvorosa and libero Tomie Rivera.
The first set of the game resulted in favor of the Tigers, as they reached a maximum of 13-point advantage against the Blue Spikers with a score of 18-5. The Tigers came out strong with powerful service aces and a tactful play in distribution, while the Blue Spikers had to redeem themselves due to the errors they have committed throughout the game. Towards the end of the set, the Blue Spikers got back on track, as they managed to score as much points as they can before the Tigers closed the set at a score of 25-15.
The second set opened with a seesaw battle between the two opposing teams, with the Blue Spikers leading at one point due to the errors committed by the Tigers, and the excellent attacks of Espejo and Intal. However, the Tigers took advantage of the Blue Spikers’ succeeding error and brought the game back to a tie at 12-all. This led to another close fight between the teams, as the Tigers were able to take a lead towards the latter part of the game. But the Blue Spikers made a comeback with their defense, as Espejo’s consistency took the second set with a score of 25-22.
Both teams fought closely throughout the third set. Despite committing a series of errors in the first half of the set, the Blue Spikers brought their score up with powerful attacks care of Espejo and Marasigan coupled with successful blocks by the team. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to maintain their composure as they grabbed the third set, 25-23.
The Blue Spikers exhibited their best performance in the fourth set as they came back more focused. Their attacks and blocks improved throughout the game and their advantage was supported by the errors and violations committed by the Tigers. With the skilled combination play of the team, the Blue Spikers brought the game to its fifth and deciding set with a score of 25-17.
In the last set, both teams exchanged in scoring before the Blue Spikers successfully took advantage of the Tigers’ errors. Their attacks on the offensive end gave them a 10-7. UST, however, bounced back as they brought the game to a deadlock. A service error by Ateneo brought the Tigers to their match point at 14-13. An outside attack by Ateneo ceded the game to the opponent with a score of 15-13.
The Blue Spikers had a three-point difference in attacks against the Tigers. They also tallied 10 total blocks and one service ace by John Rivera.
Espejo topped the team in scoring with 23 points followed up by Marasigan with 17 and Intal with 12. Polvorosa distributed the ball with 38 excellent sets while Marasigan notched 10 digs.
Ateneo: Espejo – 23, Marasigan – 17, Intal – 12, Villanueva – 9, I. Rivera – 4, Polvorosa – 2, Senoren – 1
UST: Alfafara – 22, Rico – 17, Bautista – 12, Balse – 11, Sarabia – 5, Tajanlangit – 2