COMING OFF an undefeated run in the elimination round, the Ateneo Blue Eagles won in straight sets against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers, 25-19, 25-15, 25-21, on Wednesday, October 4 at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles are only one game away from advancing to the finals of the inaugural season of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Men’s Collegiate Conference.
Head coach Oliver Almadro went with the starting lineup of Karl Baysa, Chu Njigha, Ish Polvorosa, Marck Espejo, Gian Glorioso, and John Rivera, with Manuel Sumanguid at libero.
Espejo recorded six spikes and five blocks to finish as the top scorer with 11 points. Njigha was the more efficient spiker, going 6/13 in spiking and notching four denials for a total of ten points. The team had a season-low error count at just 17, in comparison to their count at 39 errors during the opening game.
The match started off competitive, with neither team earning a sizeable lead. An attack by Rivera to avoid the block gave Ateneo a three-point advantage, 14-11, while Baysa’s off-the-block kill further into the set widened the deficit to five, 19-14. UST attempted a comeback but another run by the Blue Eagles along with back-to-back blocks by Espejo ended the set, 25-19.
The Blue Eagles took control early in the second, after a kill by Rivera off the lone blocker gave his team the five-point lead heading into the first technical timeout, 8-3. Late into the set, an ace by Glorioso extended the lead to nine, 19-10. Baysa took the set-point with a spike in between two blockers to close the set, 25-15.
The third set started out well for the Growling Tigers, who managed to score a three-point lead, 4-7. The Blue and White then went on a 4-0 run capped off by a drop from Espejo over two blockers to take the lead heading into the first technical timeout, 8-7. A strong, quick attack by Njigha proved to be too much for UST’s floor defense, giving his team the four-point lead, 18-14. Jino Labao eventually took match-point with a cross court kill, 25-21.
“We have to do more,” commented coach Almadro on his game plan for the second game of the semi-finals. “We have to do better than what we did today.” For the next games, the veteran coach expects his bench players to level up the intensity whenever they are called on to play.
The next game of the Blue Eagles will be on Saturday, October 7, against UST in the second game of the semi-finals.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Espejo – 11, Njigha – 10, Rivera – 9, Glorioso – 6, Baysa – 5, Medalla – 1, Labao – 1, Polvorosa – 1
UST: Bautista – 10, Umandal – 9, Carodan – 9, Sumagaysay – 3, Tajanlangit – 3, Medina – 3, Buro – 1
