THE ATENEO Blue Eagles exerted dominion over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws (FEU) in straight sets, 25-16, 25-9, 25-18 on Wednesday, March 8 at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The Blue Eagles continue their perfect performance in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 79 Men’s Volleyball tournament with an 8-0 record.
The first set started off close and neither team led by more than one point after the first few rallies until Marck Espejo scored an ace that touched the end-line (14-12). The Tamaraws only notched four points for the rest of the set, three of which came from service errors and an attack error by the Blue Eagles. A drop ball by Josh Villanueva sealed the first set in favor of the Blue Eagles (25-16).
The Blue Eagles kick-offed the second set going on an 8-4 scoring run that was led by Ateneo’s leading scorers Espejo and Tony Koyfman heading into the first technical time-out. After the break, starting setter Ish Polvorosa scored an ace pushed the lead to five (9-4). By the second technical time-out, Ateneo led by ten points and FEU only scored two more points (16-6). The Tamaraws were only able to earn three more points to end their lowest scoring set of the season. An attack error by Peter Quiel gave the second set to the Katipunan-based squad (25-9).
The Tamaraws attempted to rally back and were even able to contain the Blue Eagles in the third set for the first few rallies. However, Koyfman’s cross-court spike gave his team the lead for the first time in the set (6-5). Another ace by Polvorosa pushed the lead to five points further into the set (11-6). Nonetheless, FEU kept fighting and an attack error by Espejo cut the deficit to just one (14-13). An 11-5 scoring run ensured victory for the Blue and White, and Espejo ended the match with a spike that cut right through the FEU defense (25-18).
Espejo finished as the team’s top scorer in offensive output, nabbing a total of 19 points of which 14 are from spikes, 2 blocks and 3 service aces. Captain Karl Baysa finished second to Espejo with 13 points and three aces. Starting libero Manuel Sumanguid earned a very efficient 15 excellent digs off 17 attempts and 13 excellent receives off 18 attempts.
“Im happy my players performed well today,” said Head Coach Oliver Almadro. The team made sure to prepare well for the match, as FEU’s only losses came at the hands of first place Ateneo and second place National University. Coach Almadro also comments on his players’ mindset and what he feels that “[being] constant in what we are doing good” is most important.
The Blue Eagles will face the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons on Sunday, March 12 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Box Scores
Ateneo: Espejo-19, Baysa-13, Koyfman-6, Villanueva-6, Intal-6, Polvorosa-3, Medalla-1
FEU: Dolor-7, Quiel-5, Garcia-4, Paler-3, Bugaoan-3, Solis-2, Camcam-1
The Ateneo Blue Eagles exerted dominion over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws(FEU) in straight sets: 25-16, 25-9, 25-18
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