THE ATENEO Blue Eagles came out victorious in the battle of Katipunan against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in four sets, 25-19, 28-26, 25-15, 25-16, on Sunday, March 12 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Blue Eagles remain undefeated in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Men’s Volleyball tournament with a 9-0 record in the elimination round.
The game kicked off seeing Ron Medalla starting in place of Tony Koyfman, and Medalla was able to get a lucky bounce off the net to score with the cross-court spike. The scores remained close, however, with UP tying the game multiple times but Ateneo garnered a small lead by the first technical time-out (8-6). The Blue Eagles extended their lead to four by the second technical time-out with Rex Intal spiking the ball above his blockers (16-12). Intal then went on to finish the first set with an ace (25-19).
The second set started out well for the Fighting Maroons and a kill by San Pascual gave them the three-point lead to start the set (0-3). The Blue Eagles rallied back via a good serve by Intal and bad reception by the UP defense, which ensured the lead for Ateneo in the first technical time-out (8-7). The tables turned for UP and a good attack through the two-man block by John Millete off a combination play won them back the lead by the second technical time-out (15-16). Millete proved to be the hero for UP and his denial tied the game (24-24). Intal kept the team alive in the set with his block tying the game again (26-26). Unfortunately, a successful kill by Alfred Valbuena and an attack error by Marck Espejo conceded the set to UP (28-26) and the Fighting Maroons earned six block points in the second set.
The Blue and White gathered themselves and fought back in the third set. A solid two-man block by Intal and Medalla got them the early lead (6-2). Ateneo kept showing impressive defense throughout the setm and Espejo’s block on Lorenzo Trinidad’s running spike extended the lead to 9 points (15-6). Medalla finished the set with a spike above Jerry San Pedro off a combination play (25-15).
The fourth set saw a neck-and-neck battle between the two Katipunan teams with Baldelovar making an ace to bring the score to within one point (7-6). The Blue and White then went on to tally three straight points and Josh Villanueva scored an ace to lead by 4 (10-6). Tony Koyfman then earned a block that further extended their scoring run to 8-2 (15-8). However, UP captain Miguel tried to get his team back in the game with a spike off Koyfman’s block, but the lead was already insurmountable (20-13). Medalla finished the match by tipping the ball over after a bad set (25-16).
Rex Intal finished as player of the game with 16 points, three aces, and four kill blocks off 18 attempts. Setter Ish Polvorosa tallied 64 excellent sets off 101 attempts. Starting Libero Manuel Sumanguid got 25 excellent digs off 38 attempts.
“We should take the risk sometimes” says Head Coach Oliver Almadro who was trying out a new offensive system, which allowed UP to get multiple blocks. “What’s important is [you’re] constant [but] you still take the risk,” comments Coach Almadro on his high risk, high reward approach.
Ateneo’s next opponent is the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers on March 18, Sunday, at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Espejo-19, Intal-16, Villanueva-15, Medalla-11, Koyfman-8, Baysa-4
UP: Millete-18, Valbuena-12, Castillo-6, San Pascual-6, Baldelovar-3, Miguel-3
The Ateneo Blue Eagles came out victorious in the battle of Katipunan against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in four sets, 25-19, 28-26, 25-15,25-16.
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