The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles needed five tight sets to send down archrival De La Salle Green Spikers, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23, 26-28, and 15-7, in Game 1 of their semifinals match-up in the Spikers’ Turf 2nd Collegiate Conference at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Marck Espejo starred for the Katipunan-based spikers with 25 points off 20 attacks, while Antony Koyfman added 20 markers. Ish Polvoroza had 58 excellent sets for ADMU.
From a slim 8-7 lead, the Ateneans gained rhythm in the offensive end and blew away with a ten-point lead, 23-13, behind the exploits of Espejo and Koyfman. La Salle punched in a few points to trim the deficit, 16-23, but a service error from their side and an Espejo ace propelled Ateneo to a 1-0 set lead, 25-16.
La Salle recovered in the second set, notching up their net defense that made it hard for Ateneo to score. Through their solid blocks, La Salle converted their 16-9 lead midway to a commanding 20-12 advantage. Ateneo tried to come back, but it went too late as a quick attack from Del Pilar sealed the set for La Salle, 25-17, to get even at 1-1.
Both squads engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle in the third set. The Green Spikers carried over their rhythm from the previous set to post a four-point lead, 16-12, but Ateneo rallied back, sending the four-point lag to a 22-all knot behind Espejo, Rex Intal, and Koyfman. An error from La Salle and two blocks from Medalla sent Ateneo to a 2-1 set lead, 25-23.
Despite another tight affair, it was the Blue Eagles with the upper hand in the fourth set. However, the La Sallians surged from behind and sent it to a 20-all tie. From there, both squads exchanged points, and another tie at 26-all happened. Ateneo blinked first, as La Salle scored the last two points from Arjay Onia to send the match to a deciding set, 28-26.
The La Sallians, in the fifth set, lost their edge on both ends of the floor, allowing Ateneo to mercilessly pound on their weak defense. As a result, the Ateneans coasted to a 15-7 set victory to go up 1-0 in the best-of-three semis affair.
“Unang-una La Salle really played well,” said Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro in the post-game presser. “Pero I’m proud of my boys that the composure was there, and they kept the level of intensity up until the last set,” he added.
Onia topscored for La Salle with 17 points off 15 attacks.
Game 2 of the Ateneo-La Salle semifinal affair will be on Monday, September 5, at the same venue.
The Scores:
ADMU (3) – Espejo 25, Koyfman 20, Intal 10, Villanueva 9, Marasigan 9, Baysa 5, Medalla 5, Sto. Tomas 4, Polvoroza 4, Magadia 0, Tan 0, Trinidad 0, Sumanguid 0, Glorioso 0.
DLSU (2) – Onia 17, Dumago 16, Del Pilar 10, Woo 9, Asia 7, Frey 4, Jose 3, Dimayuga 0, Delos Reyes 0, Movido 0, Marco 0, Asia 0, Bacon 0, Maravilla 0.
