COMING BACK from an upset loss against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, the Ateneo Blue Eagles took down their rivals, the National University (NU) Bulldogs, in four sets (26-24, 25-21, 17-25, 25-19). The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Men’s Volleyball Finals rematch took place on Wednesday, February 7, in the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City. The Blue Eagles now hold a win-loss record of 1-1 in the standings.
Marck Espejo led the Blue Eagles with 24 points and 19 of 34 excellent receives in a stellar performance. Setter Ish Polvorosa recorded 41 excellent sets and two kill blocks. NU’s 31 team errors were also paramount in the Blue Eagles taking the first two sets where NU had 10 and 11 errors, respectively.
Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro started captain Karl Baysa, Espejo, Polvorosa, Ron Medalla, Gian Glorioso, Chu Njigha, and Manuel Sumanguid at libero. Rivera, although still recovering from his knee injury, was subbed in to play in all sets. Service specialists Pau Trinidad and rookie Jobok Morado were also utilized throughout the game while fellow rookie Jino Labao came off the bench in the third set.
Although the first set started as a tight battle, NU then went on a run to take a large lead after the first technical timeout with Malabunga’s off the block kill, taking the deficit to five (10-15). Further into the set, a strong kill by Espejo cut the NU lead to just two (21-23). Coach Almadro then subbed in Trinidad, which sparked a 6-1 run with the service specialist scoring an ace to take the lead (24-23). Medalla took set point with an off the block kill (26-24).
With momentum on their side, the Blue Eagles led for most of the second set. With the score at 24-18, Polvorosa went for a spike to the corner that looked to be inside the line, but was called out by the linesman. Coach Almadro argued against the call in question, but was eventually shown a yellow card for protesting. The Bulldogs were then able to put together a string of points, however, a kill by Espejo to avoid a double block concluded the set at 25-21.
The third set belonged to the Bulldogs from the beginning. A 10-2 scoring run in the middle of the set proved insurmountable as the Blue Eagles were down by nine before coach Almadro called a timeout (21-12). Ateneo’s seven errors and NU’s 14 attacks in the set were the main factors in preventing an Ateneo sweep. A cross court spike by Fauzi Ismail ended the set (17-25).
Looking to take their first victory of the UAAP season, the Blue Eagles raced out to an 8-3 to start the fourth set. A 7-1 run by NU then cut the deficit to one after a block by Ismail on Medalla (13-12). The Katipunan-based squad answered back with a 7-3 scoring run of their own, capped off by consecutive attack errors by NU (20-15). Another attack error by NU that missed the line concluded the set and the match (25-19).
“My players delivered well. They owned the team. They owned this game,” commented Almadro on the Blue Eagles’ performance after their loss against FEU in the previous game. The veteran mentor also commended Espejo, Polvorosa, and Baysa for stepping up in this game.
Almadro was also impressed with the performance of his middle blockers saying, “They responded to the need of our team.” When asked about a possible change in the system, the head coach pointed out that the team simply continued what they were doing and he emphasized playing, “the Ateneo way.”
The next game for the Blue Eagles will be against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers on February 11, 8:00 AM, at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Ateneo’s only preseason defeat came at the hands of the Growling Tigers in the Premier Volleyball League Men’s Collegiate Conference. The Blue Eagles were without Espejo and Baysa in the loss as both were competing in the UAAP Beach Volleyball tournament at the time.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Espejo – 24, Glorioso – 11, Medalla – 8, Njigha – 8, Baysa – 6, Polvorosa – 3, Trinidad –1, Rivera – 1
NU: Bagunas – 18, Natividad – 17, Ismail – 16, Saura – 8, Malabunga – 6, Dayandante – 1
