ATENEO toppled second-ranked Far Eastern University, 25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18, to advance to the title round for the fifth straight year in the UAAP Season 80 men’s volleyball tournament yesterday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
Four-time MVP Marck Espejo overcame whatever the Tamaraws’ defense threw at him on the net with 34 attacks to finish with 37 points and lead the Blue Eagles to victory.
Gunning for a four-peat, which was last achieved by University of Santo Tomas from the 2007-08 to 2011-12 season, Ateneo will take on elimination-round topnotcher National University in a best-of-three championship series at 12 noon on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Crossing paths in the Finals for the fifth straight year, the Eagles and the Bulldogs went 1-1 in their head-to-head faceoff this season.
“It’s a fate na sila ulit ang kalaban. NU is the strongest team here in the UAAP in terms of manpower. Sila talaga ang matibay,” said Almadro.
“No. 3 kami, No. 1 sila. So kami ang underdog. They have the materials talaga. Taon-taon they have the materials. What is important is we will be prepared. We will be ready. We will do our best. Practice, practice, practice. Work hard, work hard, work hard. Pray hard, pray hard, pray hard.”
Ateneo may have lost to FEU twice in the eliminations, but prevailed in the games that mattered.
“The players today sacrificed a lot. They really wanted this. Sabi nga nila sa akin last night (Tuesday), they will never back down,” said Almadro.
Following up the historic 55-point outburst that forced the do-or-die, Espejo got the needed support from his teammates.
Ron Medalla, Karl Baysa, Chumason Njigha and Gian Glorioso teamed up for 29 points, while Ish Polvorosa was also splendid in orchestrating the Eagles’ offense, tossing in 40 excellent sets.
RJ Paler had 14 points while Jude Garcia and JP Bugaoan added 11 and 10 hits, respectively, for the Tamaraws.
