THE ATENEO-Fudgee Bar Blue Eagles defeated the Fury Blazing Hitters in straight sets, 25-15, 25-17, 25-15, on their debut game in the 2018 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference on Saturday, October 6, at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.

The Blue Eagles line up was composed of Edie Magadia, Ron Medalla, Gian Glorioso, Jan Rivera, Chu Njigha, with Manuel Sumangid as their libero. Tony Koyfman also returned to the taraflex as an opposite spiker after sitting out the entirety of last season due to academic probation.

Ateneo drew first blood as Njigha hammered it down the middle with a quick attack from Magadia. The Blue Eagles maintained this intensity going into the first technical time-out (TTO) with a two point lead over Fury at 8-6, care of a cleverly placed tip from Glorioso. The Katipunan-based squad continued to pounce on Fury’s defense with attacks from Rivera and Koyfman and down the middle. The Blue and White went into the second TTO with a six point lead (16-10) over their struggling opponents courtesy of Magadia’s carefully crafted and well-distributed plays. Njigha made a name for himself on the court as he ended the first set in favor of the Blue Eagles at 25-15.

In the second set, Team Ateneo again took the first point in the second set with a service ace from Medalla. Both camps proceeded to exchange points but Ateneo slowly began to pull away as as they entered the first TTO at 8-4 after a delicately placed tip from Magadia. Team Fury was able to score back-to-back points until the Blue Eagles found their groove once more. While Fury was able to keep afloat, they could not seem to keep up with Ateneo’s pace going into the second TTO with Ateneo leading by a five-point margin (16-11).

Team Fury was able to improve their output in the second set, garnering two points more than their first set tally, but it was still not enough to silence the Blue Eagles who managed to close out the second set with a powerful cross-court spike from Medalla (25-17).

Ateneo took the first point in the third frame of the match with another quick kill from Njigha. An exchange of points ensued between both camps, but the Blue Eagles pulled away at the first TTO, 8-5, care of a block from Njigha. The Blue and White scored consecutive points as Sumangid set up Rivera after a poor first ball.

In the middle of the third and final set, Zach Santamaria stepped into the game for the first time. Medalla scored an ace to boost Ateneo into the second TTO with a score of 16-10. Fury struggled to convert their plays into points because of Ateneo’s impressive blocking at the net. Returning veteran Tony Koyfman propelled Ateneo to the finish line with a massive block (25-15).

The Ateneo-Fudgee Bar Blue Eagles next game against Instituto Estetico Manila Power Hitters (IEM) is at 3:00pm on Tuesday, October 9, at the same venue.

Set Score

25-15, 25-17, 25-15