THE ATENEO Blue Eagles defeated the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in three sets, 25-18, 26-24, 25-16 on Sunday, February 26, at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The Blue Eagles are currently on a six-game winning streak with a 6-0 record in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Men’s Volleyball tournament.
The first set began with a tight rally that saw both teams showing impressive blocking and floor defense, a combination play allowed Tony Koyfman to finish the long rally with a spike that was almost unblocked thanks to Josh Villanueva’s feint. The scoreline remained close until Marck Espejo scored off a block that gave Ateneo the three-point lead (13-10). Later on, Koyfman spiked the ball through the UP blockers to send the game into the second TTO with Ateneo still leading by three (16-13). The Blue Eagles would keep the lead until the very end, as a UP service error surrendered the set to the Blue and White (25-18).
The Blue Eagles made an early lead in the second set and had a three-point lead through Gian Glorioso’s ace (9-6). However, miscommunication by Baysa and Espejo as to who was spiking the ball gave UP the lead (11-12). UP had the chance to win the second set, but their errors kept Ateneo within the game (24-24). Maroon John Millete attempted a back-row attack at set point, but his spike went wide and ended the second set in favor of the Blue Eagles (26-24).
The Blue Eagles opened the third set strongly. Ish Polvorosa scored with a block that would give his team the four-point lead heading into the first technical time-out (8-4). Ateneo then went on an 8-3 scoring run and Villanueva scored a quick that gave the Blue Eagles a huge lead heading into the second technical time-out (16-7). With the score at 18-9, the referee made a controversial call that claimed that Ateneo libero Manuel Sumanguid had touched the ball, even if he clearly made an attempt to avoid it. Due to the protests by the libero, the team, and the head coach, the team was initially issued a yellow card, followed by a red card afterwards. Fortunately, no ejections were made, but the call on the floor still stood. This barely affected the team, as Villanueva would block UP’s quick attack at match point to end the third and final set (25-16).
Koyfman redeemed himself from his previous games and finished as the top scorer with 16 points and three blocks after he only scored three in his last game. Behind him was Espejo with 12 points and two blocks. Polvorosa also finished the game with 40 excellent sets out of 67 attempts.
“UP gave us a good fight today, especially in the second set,” said Head Coach Oliver Almadro. He was also impressed by Koyfman’s performance and discussed how they have been working hard for the past three days following his poor scoring output in the last game. “I’m proud that he responded very well.”
The Blue Eagles will be facing De La Salle University Green Archers in their last game of the first round on Saturday, March 4, 10AM at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Koyfman-16, Espejo-12, Villanueva-7, Baysa-4, Polvorosa-3, Intal-3, Glorioso-2
UP: Millete-15, Valbuena-6, San Pascual-5, Castillo-4, Miguel-3, Baldelovar-2, Consuelo-1,
The Ateneo Blue Eagles defeated the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in three sets, 25-18, 26-24, 25-16
https://storify.com/TheGUIDONSports/uaap-season-79-men-s-volleyball-ateneo-vs-up
