With the Season 80 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Volleyball tournament just around the corner, this piece takes stock of the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Men’s Collegiate Conference held from September to October 2017, recapping the Blue Eagles’ performance, as well as answering some questions posed by their play.

THE ATENEO Blue Eagles took the gold medal in the inaugural season of the PVL Men’s Collegiate Conference, formerly known as the Spikers’ Turf. The Blue and White swept their seven games in the Elimination Round, overcame a three-game series against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers in the Semifinals, 2-1, and wiped the floor in the championship series against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, 2-0.

Ateneo won in three sets against all other teams in the Elimination Round except FEU, who managed to steal the first set before Ateneo took the next three.

The other teams in the league include, in descending order in the standings, National University (NU) Bulldogs, San Beda College (SBC) Red Lions, De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers, University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, and College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Blazers.

Match results

Roster changes from last season

Big changes came for the defending UAAP champions as two key players in middle blockers, Josh Villanueva and Rex Intal, both graduated while UAAP Season 79 Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Tony Koyfman was also out for the PVL season due to health issues with his lungs.

In their places, Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro started UAAP Season 79 Rookie of the Year Chu Njigha and junior Gian Glorioso, both of whom often came off the bench, but never really got significant minutes in the UAAP. John Rivera also got the starting nod after coming back from a shoulder injury. Njigha and Glorioso have grown into their new roles well while Rivera is steadily returning to his old form, much to Almadro’s satisfaction.

Third on the team in spiking is John Rivera with a total of 56 spikes and 23 faults off 128 attempts. Rivera is the team’s third best scorer in the preliminaries; coming in second is Glorioso with 40 spikes, 19 blocks, and three aces. Njigha ranked sixth in the league for blocking with a total of 12 kill blocks for the elimination round. These three players have definitely benefited from extra playing time according to their statistics.

Almadro’s coaching style focuses heavily on players, such as Njigha and Glorioso, with high potential and whose talents he is able to maximize. It will be exciting to see how the rest of their volleyball careers pan out, as Njigha already broke into the first team in just his second year, while Glorioso’s stats were at par with the best in the PVL in his first year as a starter.

The rest of the regular starters are composed of the three graduating players: Ish Polvorosa, Marck Espejo, and Karl Baysa. Baysa retains the role of team captain while Manuel Sumanguid remains the team’s primary libero.

New additions to the lineup include Jino Labao, Abai Llenos, and Basti Cuerva, Labao and Llenos were given opportunities whenever possible, but Cuerva, who came back to the team after spending a year to focus on his academics, failed to get playing time in this tournament.

Dominance over UAAP rival NU

The most anticipated game of the Elimination Round was the UAAP Finals rematch against NU on September 30. The Blue Eagles dominated the entire game and kept NU to only 53 points in the three set win (25-19, 25-19, 25-15). This lopsided victory came as a surprise as NU and Ateneo have met in all UAAP Finals since Season 76.

NU were held to an attacking efficiency of only 29%, which was uncharacteristic of their high-powered offense. The Bulldog’s usual top scorers seemed almost absent in this game as Bryan Bagunas, the second best scorer in the league for UAAP Season 79, only scored five points in three sets, while Fauzi Ismail, the fourth best scorer in the same season, racked up four points in only one set.

In contrast, the Blue and White had a spiking efficiency of 45.7%. Espejo led the team in scoring with 23 points off 20/26 spikes. Ateneo also had an excellent performance in floor defense, recording a total of 34 excellent digs, with Sumanguid getting 13 off 16 attempts. Espejo played well on defense as he racked up nine of 12 excellent receives.

Struggles without key veterans

The last time the Blue Eagles lost a game was in UAAP Season 78, against Adamson in five sets. Since then, the Katipunan-based squad remained undefeated in all domestic tournaments they participated in. However, this winning streak came to an end through Ateneo’s only loss in the PVL in Game 2 of their Semifinal series against UST (22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 21-25). Due to the late start of the PVL on September 2 (last season’s start was on July 30), the semifinal matches conflicted with UAAP Beach Volleyball which caused their offensive and defensive anchors, Espejo and Baysa, to miss out on defending their unblemished record. During this specific game, both had to sit out due to their UAAP Beach Volleyball games later that day.

The weakened Blue Eagles tried to make use of their depth to remain competitive. Ron Medalla and Labao, both of whom primarily play off the bench, were inserted into the starting lineup. Service specialist Pau Trinidad was also substituted in for all four sets.

UST’s Joshua Umandal led his team with 23 points. The Growling Tigers had an attacking success rate of 39.6% while Ateneo attacked with a rate of 36.8%. Rivera racked up 15 points in Espejo’s absence while Glorioso recorded 11 spikes and two service aces.

It was clear that the Blue Eagles struggled without Baysa and Espejo. The lineup used for this game is likely the lineup for Season 81, except for Polvorosa, who will also be graduating after this season. Looking further ahead, it will be interesting to see how the team will fair in Season 81 without the duo of Espejo and Polvorosa while also lacking the defensive effort and leadership that Baysa brings.

Statistical Superiority

In the preliminaries, the Blue Eagles led the league in spiking, serving, and receiving while placing second in blocking and setting. The team’s lowest statistical ranking came in digging, as they finished third in the league.

For spiking, Ateneo placed high above the rest of the pack with a spiking success rate of 44.9%, mainly thanks to Espejo’s efficient attacking and Polvorosa’s consistently excellent setting. NU finished second with 38.84% while FEU ranked third with an efficiency of 38.02%.

Espejo and Polvorosa were the top servers in the league, as Espejo racked up 10 service aces while Polvorosa had nine. Their skill from the service line, coupled with the rest of the team, had them average a league high 1.36 aces per set. UST averaged 1.13 aces per set, while CSB, at third, averaged one ace per set.

Ateneo also dominated service reception with an efficiency of 56.67%, the closest team being UST, with an efficiency of 47.77%. Sumanguid led the league in receiving with a 60% efficiency while only recording three faults in the Elimination Round. Along with his third place finish in digging, Sumanguid ultimately took home the Best Libero award.

Setting was a tight race between Polvorosa and DLSU’s Wayne Marco, as both had an identical per set average of 10 excellent sets at the end of the Elimination Round. However, Polvorosa only had 15 faults while Marco had 21 faults, which led to the Blue Eagle winning the Best Setter award.

NU finished as the best blocking team with an average of 2.79 kill blocks per set, while Ateneo followed closely behind at second, averaging 2.59. NU’s Kim Malabunga, who totalled 24 blocks, and FEU’s John Bugaoan, who recorded 23 blocks, won the first and second Best Blocker awards, respectively, with the accolades based on total kill blocks for the season. However, it was Glorioso who led the league in blocking average with 0.86 per set.

Because of the many Blue Eagle victories in straight sets, Ateneo only played in a total of 22 sets compared to NU’s 29 sets and FEU’s 28. If Glorioso maintained his average and played in 29 sets, the Best Blocker citation would have been his.

Marck Espejo continues to be Marck Espejo

Espejo garnered the Best Outside Spiker and Conference MVP awards as he reigned over the PVL in almost every statistical category. His 62.86% attacking success rate got him 110 spikes while in second is FEU’s Bugaoan with 83 spikes. He led the league in serving with an average of 0.45 aces per set. Espejo ranked third in receiving with a total of 57 excellent receives. Above him in this category were FEU’s libero Rikko Marmeto at second and his teammate Sumanguid leading the league. For digging, Espejo ranked sixth, the best digger among non-liberos with an average of 1.95 excellent digs per set.

According to Coach Almadro, the best aspect of Espejo’s game is his, “Ako na bahala (I’ll take care of it)” mentality. If the team is in desperate need of a point, Espejo delivers, as can be seen with his attacking efficiency. He also has a consistent back-row attack as well as the ability to spike above the block which makes the other team very wary of his attacks. His attacking repertoire forces the blockers to put extra focus on him and not his teammates which in turn gives the rest of the Blue Eagles an easier time to score.

In the Finals series, Espejo recorded a total of 25 spikes, six service aces, and three blocks across two games for a total of 34 points. This won him the Finals MVP award which happens to be his 10th MVP award in his collegiate career: Four in the UAAP and six in the PVL/Spikers’ Turf.

‘We’re gunning for four, I promise’

For the UAAP season, Labao and Cuerva will still remain with the team, while the last spot will be given to rookie Ariel Morado, who is a setter and libero from Colegio San Agustin-Makati. He will serve a mainly defensive role on the team.

“We’re gunning for four, I promise,” said Almadro in the press conference in the last game of UAAP Season 79. The fourth championship has also been on player’s minds all season long as the team is still set up to dominate the league for another season.

According to Almadro, the biggest challenge for the team will be the fact that “all of the [other] teams are intact.” However, as players come and go, the veteran coach puts extra emphasis on keeping consistent the mindset of putting “trust [in] each other, faith in God, and the courage to fight hard.”

With three starters serving their last year for the team, the three-peat champions will be a sight to behold, as the veterans all hope to graduate with their legacy cemented.