In line with the ongoing University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Men’s Volleyball tournament, this weekly series will analyze the state of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in their bid to win their fourth consecutive championship.
Recap of the week: February 3 to 9
THE BLUE Eagles opened the season with a match against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws on Sunday, February 4, and a UAAP Season 79 Finals rematch with the National University (NU) Bulldogs on Wednesday, February 7. Last season, FEU ranked third with an 8-6 win-loss record while NU finished as the second seed at 12-2. The fact that both games were only two days apart gave the Blue Eagles the toughest possible schedule in the league
The match against FEU made headlines as the Tamaraws ended the defending champions’ 30-game winning streak in the UAAP with a dominant three-set win, (18-25, 19-25, 22-25). Looking to bounce back, reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Marck Espejo took the initiative to score 24 points in Ateneo’s four-set win against NU (26-24, 25-21, 17-25, 25-19)
Week ahead
The next game for the Katipunan-based squad will be against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers who finished fourth last season with a record of 6-8. Rookie Growling Tiger Joshua Umandal, a transferee from the University of the East (UE), will be Ateneo’s biggest threat as he currently ranks third in the league for scoring 33 points. Espejo is three points ahead of him with 36 and is, unsurprisingly, the top scorer in the league.
Upcoming games
February 11, Sunday, 8:00 AM vs UST Growling Tigers (2-0)
February 17, Saturday, 8:00 AM vs UE Red Warriors (0-2)
1. Wake-up call for the Blue Eagles
“What’s important is they know what they lack today,” said Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro after their loss against FEU. The veteran mentor also called the game a wake-up call” for Espejo as, according to Almadro, it was his lowest scoring output since he started playing for the Blue Eagles.
“I believe that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” declared Almadro as the team often start poorly in matches, but always tend to come back in the latter parts. This can be seen in the NU game where the team was down for almost the entire first set before a run that was led by serving specialist Pau Trinidad allowed them to take the hard-fought first set.
Ateneo has had a reputation to be slow starters, which prompted coach Oliver to ask his team, especially his veterans, to amp up their intensity and leadership. This, hopefully, will lead to more consistency.
2. New faces feel the pressure
With the loss of Rex Intal, Josh Villanueva, and Tony Koyfman from last year’s unstoppable squad, the Blue Eagles have undeniably taken a hit when it comes to blocking and net defense. Their replacements in the starting lineup, Gian Glorioso, Chu Njigha, and John Rivera, have shown to be first team quality as can be seen from their Premier Volleyball League (PVL) performances.
It may just be down to first-game jitters that these new faces in the starting lineup did not quite perform as Almadro would have wanted. Promotion to the starting lineup of a championship caliber team is no easy feat—it surely brings with it some pressure to the players.
According to Almadro, being three-peat champions puts a target on your back and teams will begin developing in such a way to beat the top dogs. This was made clear in FEU’s extremely effective game plan as the Ateneo failed to even grab a set in their loss against FEU. In the Blue Eagles’ opening day loss, FEU had 37 spikes and 10 blocks while Ateneo had 28 and five respectively.
Season 79 Rookie of the Year Chu Njigha was only able to score one point against FEU as he started in the first two sets. He was replaced with veteran middle blocker Jasper Tan as Almadro saw that the current system simply was not working. He was able to come back in the game against NU, however, as he was able to notch eight points.
In the PVL, Glorioso was wreaking havoc in the middle as he averaged 0.86 blocks per set, yet in the UAAP his average currently stands at 0.43. A 50% drop in production is rather troubling so early on in the season. However, this could be attributed to the tough schedule as NU and FEU are among the top offenses while the PVL did not feature all UAAP Men’s teams.
John Rivera was not meant to play at the start of the season as he is still recovering from a left knee injury he sustained before the season. His scoring was sorely needed as he was the third best spiker in the PVL with an attacking efficiency of 43.75%. Coming off the bench in the last two games, he’s accumulated a total of six points. His complete return from injury should be enough to bolster Ateneo’s attack.
3. Tough schedule to open the season
Last year, in descending order in the standings, the final four was composed of NU, FEU, and UST. The Blue Eagles have the challenge of facing all three teams in a span of eight days from February 4 to 11. Coming from Season 79, Ateneo lost a lot of their firepower as their starting middle blockers graduated and Koyfman, who took home the Finals MVP award, will be sitting out the season.
It is far too early in the season to press the panic button as there are still 12 games to play and five other teams to face. The Blue Eagles looked to be back on form with their win against NU. The odds are definitely stacked against the Katipunan-based squad, but with the leadership of a veteran head coach and their experienced core of Espejo, Ish Polvorosa, and Karl Baysa playing their respective fifth and final UAAP season, the Blue Eagles will fight to dominate the league once again.
