THE ATENEO Blue Eagles against the Adamson University (AdU) Soaring Falcons in straight sets, 25-18, 25-20, 25-14 on Wednesday, March 22 at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The Blue Eagles remain undefeated in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Men’s Volleyball tournament with an 11-0 record.
The first set started off tightly as neither team lead by more than two points until an ace by Ish Polvorosa and a soft attack by Ron Medalla gave the team the three-point lead (9-6). The Blue and White went on a 9-5 scoring run that was highlighted by a Medalla kill-block (18-11). Adamson attempted to mount a comeback but the Blue Eagles had no plans of ending their run and an attack by Tony Koyfman off a combination play solidified the lead (23-17). Rex Intal then went on to finish the set off a bad receive by the Adamson libero (25-18).
The second set started out similar but the Blue Eagles were able to begin their run early and a running spike by Intal gave his team the three-point lead heading into the first technical time-out (8-5). Later on in the set, Karl Baysa was denied by John Yude, but the Ateneo captain proceeded to score off Yude’s block in the next rally (20-11). Unfortunately for the defending champions, Adamson was able to capitalize on poor defense and multiple errors by their opponent. Medalla’s attack off the block stopped the bleeding for the Katipunan-based squad (22-16). The Soaring Falcons were able to score four more points before a block by Josh Villanueva gave Ateneo the second set (25-20).
The Blue Eagles dominated the third set and an ace by Espejo gave Ateneo the early lead (6-3). Espejo then extended the lead with an attack that sliced through the two-man block (17-7). Adamson looked outmatched during the entire set, as rebounds off the Ateneo blockers and multiple excellent sets by Polvorosa allowed the offense to set up and score. Pau Trinidad also made his UAAP debut this game and made two excellent digs before Baysa ended the match with a tight-angle spike against two blockers (25-14).
Espejo ended the match with 13 points while Intal followed by finishing with 12 markers. Ron Medalla put on one of the best performances of his career with 10 points off a 50% attacking rate and 7 of 11 excellent digs. The Ateneo offense had a very efficient 47.12% conversion rate this game with Rex Intal leading the pack with an individual rate of 55.56%.
“My players played well,” praised Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro. He also complimented the performance of his bench players and the overall consistency of the team. “I know Ron can do more,” commented Coach Almadro when asked about the stellar performance of Ron Medalla. “Let’s watch out for him.” Coach Almadro also wants his players to, “play like we want it more than them.”
Ateneo’s next opponent is the University of the East Red Warriors on Sunday, March 26, 8AM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Espejo-13, Intal-12, Medalla-10, Villanueva-9, Baysa-6, Koyfman-6, Glorioso-2, Polvorosa-1
AdU: Jude-14, Sarmiento-8, Sudaria-8, Alvarez-3, Ramirez-2, Pablico-2
The Blue Eagles are now three games awayfrom going straight to the finals after their win against Adamson
https://storify.com/TheGUIDONSports/uaap-season-79-58d214b598d7976067d3dd74
