THE ATENEO Blue Eagles emerge victorious in a hard-fought match against their arch rivals National University (NU) Bulldogs in 5 sets, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13, on Tuesday, May 2 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

The match features the first game of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Men’s Volleyball finals, where the Blue Eagles and the NU Bulldogs faced each other for the fourth consecutive time since Season 76. With the Blue Eagles defeating the Bulldogs in 3-2 sets, this puts them at a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three finals series.

Three-time UAAP Men’s Volleyball MVP Marck Espejo top-scored for the Blue Eagles once again, contributing 29 points of which 25 come from spikes. Tony Koyfman followed with 18 points, and Josh Villanueva made 14 markers. Ish Polvorosa supported the team with 60 excellent sets, while Manuel Sumanguid recorded 28 excellent digs.

Compared to the Blue Eagles’ games in the elimination round, the Bulldogs stepped up to challenge Ateneo by driving the match to five sets, which was a first for the Blue Eagles this season. The Bulldogs started strong in the first set, as they capitalized on the Blue Eagles’ slow reactions to their aggressive play. NU maintained a 7-point lead throughout the first set until Koyfman and Espejo rallied back through their attacks to cut the lead, and eventually tied the set at 21-all. The Blue Eagles were then successful in stopping NU from attacking, and took the first set at 25-21.

The second and third set saw NU’s ace scorers Ismail and Bagunas step up. This caused the Blue Eagles to commit numerous errors, and drop these two sets in favor of the Bulldogs. Although Ateneo drew first blood in both sets, the Bulldogs maintained the lead in both sets. The Blue Eagles stayed within reach of the Bulldogs’ lead, but were unable to earn the advantage due to their sustained errors in the rotation. The Bulldogs led 2-1 by the third set.

The Blue Eagles had a wake-up call by the fourth set. Middle blockers Rex Intal and Josh Villanueva went back to winning ways early in the set, as they provided much-needed offensive support to rattle the Bulldogs’ defense system. Espejo’s back-to-back attacks and Baysa’s strategic check ball then allowed the Blue Eagles to lead the second technical timeout for the first time by 5 (16-11). Ateneo continued to strengthen their offensive output, which trumped the Bulldogs in the fourth set (25-18).

As the game was driven to its fifth and deciding set, both teams went neck-and-neck with each other until Villanueva made back-to-back blocks that allowed Ateneo to lead by the second half (8-5). With improved blocks and strong finishes by Espejo in the Blue Eagles play, Ateneo found itself within two to take the first game of the finals series (13-8). However, the Bulldogs managed a 5-0 run, capitalizing on the Blue Eagles’ last errors (13-all). Not letting the team’s morale falter, Espejo led the team to match point, and Intal’s last block nailed the victory for the Blue Eagles (15-13).

After an emotional celebration, Coach Oliver Almadro praised the NU Bulldogs for their outstanding performance, as they challenged his team in this match. But what was important for him was that his players went beyond their own skills and played with heart.

“Yan ang sabi ko sa kanila, aside from the hard attacks, hard digs, hard blocks, what’s important is we are not playing with just pure talent, we are playing within our hearts,” said Coach Almadro. “Yun ang maganda sa players ko. The resiliency and the heart that they’re showing, I cannot say anything less sa mga players ko. They really strived hard.”

Player of the game Marck Espejo also mentioned that vital factor to the team’s success was the support system the players had for each other. This also inspired him to step up not for himself, but for the team.

“Kasi noong first set, medyo bagsak ako pero tinulungan nila ako makabawi, chine-cheer up nila ako, kino-compliment nila ako, siguro yun ang malaking factor na nangyari ngayon. Lumabas yung family sa loob ng court na kailangan mag-tulungan, kailangan walang down (Because in the first set, I was a bit down but [my team] helped me get back up, they cheered me up, complimented me, maybe that was a big factor. [Our] being family came out in the court and we needed to help each other, no should be down),” said Espejo.

Game 2 of the UAAP Season 79 Men’s Volleyball Finals is slated to happen on Saturday, May 6, 12NN at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.