THE ATENEO Men’s Volleyball Team suffered its first loss since Season 78 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) to last year’s second runner-up Far Eastern University (FEU). The Tamaraw’s straight-set victory, 18-25, 19-25, 22-25, broke Ateneo’s 30-game winning streak in the UAAP. The Blue Eagles had not lost in straight-sets since Season 77 against the University of Santo Tomas back in 2014. The rough start marked their first game of the UAAP Volleyball tournament which took place on Sunday, February 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Blue Eagles started Karl Baysa, Marck Espejo, Ish Polvorosa, Ron Medalla, Gian Glorioso, Chu Njigha, and Manuel Sumanguid as the libero. Medalla started for John Rivera as the latter is still recovering from a knee injury.
The Tamaraws controlled the first set with consistent transitions from defense to offense to never give the Blue Eagles a chance to take a lead. From the get-go, FEU had pulled to a five-point lead following a block and a service ace by John Paul Bugaoan. Ateneo found themselves down 3-8 by the first technical timeout.
Despite several attempts by the Blue and White to muddle their opponents by mixing up their plays, the Tamaraws remained steadfast and responded with even better plays of their own. FEU never looked back as they cruised to take the first set, 25-18, after racking up a staggering 13 attacks as compared to Ateneo’s seven.
The second set started out differently with Ateneo taking an initial 8-6 lead after a strong burst of plays by Glorioso, who threw down a running spike and a block. Coming from the timeout, FEU then made a three-point run to keep the battle close.
Espejo landed some of his signature cross-court spikes, but the Tamaraws kept answering back with good defense. FEU scored four straight points to head into the second technical timeout, leading at 6-13. From then on, the Blue Eagles failed to make another significant run as they dropped the second set, 19-25. FEU put up a whopping seven blocks and forced 10 errors as opposed to Ateneo’s two blocks and eight opponent errors, respectively.
The pressure was on for the Blue Eagles to take the third set or fall to the clutches of their first defeat in years. Ateneo trailed early, 6-8, due to their slow start in the set. However, after Rivera’s explosive spikes and service ace, the game was tied at 10 apiece. Both teams continued to exchange points until the scoreboard lit up a tie at 20 points for both teams. Offensive errors from the Blue Eagles forced them to concede the set, 22-25, and ultimately, the game.
It seemed that the Tamaraws had concocted a playstyle that countered the Blue Eagles despite their numerous substitutions in order to move the momentum towards Ateneo. Aside from that, FEU outplayed the three-time defending champions as they garnered excellent receives, blocks, and opponent errors.
FEU’s Bugaoan was the highest scorer in the game with 13 points, coupled with 15 block attempts. Jude Garcia, another Tamaraw, recorded 11 points, nine of which were from spikes. Four-time UAAP Most Valuable Player Marck Espejo was the only Blue Eagle who finished in double figures with 12 points.
In somewhat of a nightmare game for the Blue Eagles, Ateneo Head Coach Oliver Almadro expressed the importance of intensity and aggressiveness to encourage his team to bounce back after the harsh loss.
“Normally we always have a slow start, but strong finish,” he said. “But this time, we had a slow start pero ‘di namin na-manage na makabalik sa strong finish (we couldn’t manage to get to the strong finish). So intensity was lacking from the start till the end.”
When asked about their next game against National University (NU), Almadro responded saying, “The team already experienced defeat, so now they know how to prepare after.”
The next game for the Blue Eagles will be a finals rematch against the NU Bulldogs, on Wednesday, February 7 at FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
Set Scores
Ateneo-FEU: 18-25, 19-25, 22-25
Box Scores
Ateneo: Espejo – 12, Baysa – 7, Glorioso – 6, Rivera – 5, Medella – 4, Tan – 1, Njigha – 1
FEU: Bugaoan – 13, Garcia – 11, Solid – 10, Suarez – 5, Bautista – 4, Quiel – 4, Marmeto – 1
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