THE ATENEO-FUDGEE Barr Blue Eagles were defeated by the PLDT Home Fibr Power Hitters in a five set thriller, 17-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 12-15, on Friday, October 12 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
Head Coach Timmy Sto. Tomas fielded a starting lineup featuring Egie Magadia, Ron Medalla, Tony Koyfman, Chu Njigha, Gian Glorioso, Jan Rivera, and Manuel Sumanguid at libero. Service specialists Pau Trinidad and Bok Morado were used with the former being utilized in all five sets. Rookies Abai Llenos, Kurt Aguilar, and Zach Santamaria also featured.
Since PLDT’s talented blockers continuously shut down Ateneo’s wing spikers, middle blockers Njigha and Glorioso stepped up with a combined 29 points. Sumanguid was a fantastic defensive anchor in the game, recording 20 excellent digs off 30 attempts to go along with eight excellent receives. Magadia did his best to get his spikers open, notching 43 excellent sets. Despite Magadia’s excellent play, the Power Hitters were able to rack up 15 total kill blocks.
In the first set, the Blue and White had a difficult time scoring against a strong defensive team and they were down by three at the first technical timeout (TTO), 5-8. The Blue Eagles continued to struggle as a 5-2 scoring run by PLDT capped off by a service ace to the corner forced Coach Sto. Tomas to call a timeout, 7-13.
[1st set] Power Hitters with a well placed serve to force the Blue Eagle time-out.
Ateneo 7 PLDT 13#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/gfE2xsj3Wl
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
The two teams continued to trade points, with the Blue Eagles struggling to gain momentum as they were down by six at the second TTO, 10-16. The Power Hitters eventually claimed the set off a Magadia service error, 17-25.
[1st set] A Magadia service error ends the set.
Ateneo 17 PLDT 25#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/iacvpdi3h2
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
To start the second set, the home team was on fire as they took an early lead behind a 5-0 run heading into the first TTO, 8-4. Njigha led Ateneo to a 10-6 advantage when he began to catch fire with his quicks completely overwhelming the PLDT defense.
[2nd set] Powerful quick by Njigha!
Ateneo 10 PLDT 6#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/lVZAAQqGoN
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
The middle blockers were a significant factor in the Blue Eagles’ domination of the set as their speed on the attack also gave the wing spikers breathing room due to the amount of attention the opposing blockers were forced to give Njigha and Medalla.
[2nd set] Njigha with the soft touch on the quick play.
Ateneo 18 PLDT 14#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/uic3wb0Hur
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
With their offense finally clicking, the Katipunan-based squad tied the set score at 1-1 through a service error from their PLDT counterparts, 25-17.
[2nd set] A PLDT service error hands Ateneo the set point.
Ateneo 25 PLDT 17#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/Tp8xN0W72c
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
The Blue and White started off the third set well but key errors surrendered their lead by the first TTO, 7-8. PLDT’s blocking, on top of multiple unforced errors on Ateneo’s part, were killing the Blue Eagles as they were down by six at the second TTO, 10-16. The collegiate team was unable to rally back and a wide attack by Koyfman ended the set, 18-25.
[3rd set] Koyfman’s attack goes wide. Power Hitters go up 1-2.
Ateneo 18 PLDT 25#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/IfS7TAo6GC
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
Hoping to force a fifth set, the team went back to the plays that worked in the second set. Magadia was sending more balls to Njigha and Glorioso which worked to near perfection. After a quick kill by Njigha put Ateneo up by two at the first TTO, 8-6, the two teams continued to trade scoring runs but the Blue and White maintained the lead heading into the second TTO, 16-12. Medalla was the main man at the latter parts of the set, scoring on key attacks and even getting the service ace to take set point, 25-20.
[4th set] Medalla service ace! We’re going to a fifth set!
Ateneo 25 PLDT 20#SpikersTurf pic.twitter.com/s3JrHkXQk1
— James Gavina (@James_TheGUIDON) October 12, 2018
It was a tight battle in the fifth set but the more mature PLDT squad slowly built up their lead, 6-9, forcing Ateneo to call time after an attack error by Koyfman. A quick by Njigha and a down-the-line kill by Medalla eventually tied the game, 10-10.
A wide spike by PLDT’s Henry Pecana gave Ateneo the lead but the Power Hitters got it back with a combination play, 11-11. Unfortunately for Ateneo, a service ace and two blocks set the Power Hitters up with two match points, 11-14. A cross court kill by Power Hitter Mark Alfafara sealed the win for PLDT, 12-15.
The next game for the Ateneo-Fudgee Barr Blue Eagles will be against the Philippine Army Troopers at 11:00 AM, Tuesday, October 16 in the same venue. The Blue Eagles now hold a 2-1 win-loss record after tasting their first defeat in the Spikers’ Turf 2018 Open Conference.
Set Score
Ateneo-BKP: 17-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 12-15
Box Scores
Ateneo: Koyfman – 17, Glorioso – 15, Njigha – 14, Medalla – 9, Rivera – 9, Magadia – 1, Trinidad – 1, Sumanguid – 1
PLDT: Alfafara – 16, Dela Vega – 13, Pecana – 11, Franco – 9, Sumagaysay – 6, Carodan – 6, De Guzman – 5, Villegas – 1, Umandal – 1
