AFTER LOSING to the Adamson Falcons in the first round of the eliminations, the Ateneo Blue Spikers fought for redemption and has now earned their fifth consecutive win in the competition. They defeated the oppsoing team in three straight sets, 26-24, 25-22, 25 18, on Sunday, January 25, at the Fil Oil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
“This was a tough team to beat since they had a seven-straight winning streak ever since their first loss to NU,” says Coach Oliver Almadro. “Their team is composed to veterans and they’re very talented individually.”
This victory puts the Blue Spikers at 6-2 in the elimination round standings.
The Blue Spikers opened the game with the starting six players: Josh Villanueva, Ysay Marasigan, Rex Intal, Ish Polvorosa, Marck Espejo, Ish Rivera and Tomie Rivera as the libero.
They immediately earned a four-point advantage against Adamson when the first set had begun. The signal of a close fight came as Adamson brought the game to a draw score of 10-10. Both teams alternately earned an advantage against each other until Adamson took a three-point lead against the Blue Spikers.
With a wave of successful attacks by Ateneo, Espejo brought the game back to tie, 21-21. The game reached its most crucial point when Ateneo reached the set point but Adamson drew itself up to a tie at 24-24. Espejo then took the opportunity to finish the set with two consecutive spikes, ending the set with a score of 26-24.
Adamson did not plan on giving up on this game, as they stole two consecutive points as the second set opened. Both teams showed prowess as they were alternatingly garnering at most a two-point advantage against each other then bringing it back to a tie. This pattern lasted throughout the game until Espejo managed a three-point streak, ending the set with a score of 25-22.
The third and final set of the game proved that the Ateneo Blue Spikers are worthy of the victory. The team continued to lead the game with an average of four-point advantage against the opposing team, as it started to commit misses in receptions and violations during the game. Ish Rivera finally took the game for Ateneo with a set score of 25- 18.
The Blue Spikers garnered a 12-point difference against the Adamsaon Falcons. They also tallied eight out of 29 successful blocks and one service ace by Polvorosa.
Espejo topped the team again in scoring 12 points followed up by Villanueva with 11, Ish Rivera with 10 and Intal with 7. Polvorosa distributed the ball with 23 excellent sets while Team Captain Marasigan notched four digs.
“We’re slowing going up and I hope and pray that we really are. There are still some flaws we have to work on during our practices,” says Almadro. “We were just lucky that Adamson began to lose when we were also losing in performance.”
Their next game will be against University of the East, 10:00 AM, Wednesday, January 28, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City
Ateneo: Espejo – 12, Villanueva – 11, Ish Rivera – 10, Intal – 7, Marasigan – 6, Polvorosa – 3
Adamson: Sarmiento – 7, Sudaria – 7, Ramirez – 4, Yude – 4, Saraza – 3, Pletado – 2, David – 2, Pablico – 2
