MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Pushed to the limit for the first time in the UAAP Season 79 men's volleyball tournament, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles displayed the heart of a champion to hack out a stunning five-set win over National University (NU).
The top-seeded Blue Eagles, who advanced straight to the Finals after a 14-game sweep of the elimination round, overcame a one-set deficit and came up with huge plays on both ends of the floor in the decider to deny the Bulldogs an upset, 25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13.
Their epic win gave the Blue Eagles a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, and put them one win away from a third consecutive men's volleyball title. It was also Ateneo's 15th consecutive victory in Season 79, and their 29th straight win dating back to February 2016.
"Aside from the hard attacks, hard digs, hard blocks, what's important is we are not playing with just pure talent. We are playing with our hearts," he stressed.
The Bulldogs pounced on Ateneo's shaky play in the second and third sets, as the Blue Eagles clearly felt the effects of a 23-day layoff. The defending men's champions committed 11 errors in both of those frames, allowing NU to score easy points en route to a 2-1 lead in the match.
Ateneo recovered in the fourth frame, when they pulled ahead, 13-6, with Marck Espejo taking charge in front. NU came to within four, 9-13, after two consecutive blocks by skipper Francis Saura and a kill by Fauzi Ismail, but the Blue Eagles were able to keep them at bay and send the match to a deciding fifth frame.
"I just told them that their minds will make them champions," Almadro said of his message to his players before the do-or-die Set 4. "I told them to play by heart, and I guess 'yun ang pinakita nila."
"Ever since naman, for the past three and four years, sa strength and power, sobrang lakas ng NU. But I guess, heart lang ang panlaban namin talaga, and 'yung willingness to win ng mga players," he added.
The Blue Eagles appeared as though they were running away with the win when they took an 11-6 lead in the fifth set, with Tony Koyfman emphatically rejecting a soft tip by NU's Bryan Bagunas.
The Bulldogs, however, showed their own composure as they scored five straight points to tie the frame at 13. James Natividad played a huge role in the run, twice rejecting Espejo at the net, while Ismail scored the tying hit off the Ateneo blockers.
Brimming with confidence, the NU blockers again moved to block Espejo in the next rally, but Ateneo was able to recover the ball, and setter Ish Polvorosa again set up Espejo, this time for a powerful kill that the Bulldogs couldn't stop.
"Alam ko na 'yung team ko and 'yung setter ko, tiwala talaga sa akin kaya binalik sa akin (ang bola)," said Espejo. "So dapat, hindi ko sila biguin."
Rex Intal came up with the final point for Ateneo, as the graduating middle blocker made up for his slow start by soundly rejecting Ismail's push.
"The last block, Rex stepped up," said Almadro. "For the whole game, medyo missing siya para sa akin, pero he came up at the right time."
Espejo finished with 29 points on 25 attacks, three blocks, and one service ace, while Koyfman scattered 18 markers. After mustering only one point in the first two sets, Intal finished with 11 markers, and Josh Villanueva shrugged off taunts from the NU crowd to score 14 points, including four kill blocks.
The Bulldogs recovered in the next two frames, pouncing on Ateneo's error-prone ways to come close to breaking a 10-match losing streak against the Blue Eagles.
Unfortunately for NU, it was another sorry loss for them as they just fell short in the end game.
Ismail finished with 22 points, while Bagunas added 19 markers. Middle blockers Kim Malabunga and Francis Saura combined for 21.
The Bulldogs got 35 easy points off Ateneo's errors, but the Blue Eagles made up for it with a 62-52 advantage in spikes.
Game 2 is on Saturday, also at the Araneta Coliseum.
(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)
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