The young guns of Ateneo de Manila University-Fudgee Barr stunned Army-Katinko, 32-30, 25-15, 16-25, 25-15, for its first win in the 2022 Spikers’ Turf Open Conference, Saturday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
The Blue Eagles responded quickly in the fourth after dropping the set prior, taking a 16-8 lead en route to 25-15 for the victory.
“Going to this game inayos namin ‘yung mindset namin. I’m happy na nagrespond sila sa pinagusapan namin the past few days,” said Ateneo-Fudgee Barr head coach Timothy Sto. Tomas.
“Noong Set 3, Army changed its lineup so siguro ‘yung familiarity, nagulat kami. We were caught off guard dahil up two sets na kami.”
Down 29-30 in the opening salvo, Amil Pacinio, with help from Madz Gampong’s backrow attack error, delivered three straight Blue Eagles points, 32-30.
And the confidence snowballed for Ateneo-Fudgee Barr in the second frame, racing to a 15-7 start on the way to claiming a 25-15 win to take a commanding 2-0 set lead.
But the Troopers found their form in the third with Ben Labide and PJ Rojas leading the way to extend the match, 25-16.
With the win, the Blue Eagles improved to 1-3 along with Santa Rosa City at fifth, while sending the Troopers on the brink of elimination at 0-4.
Kennedy Batas ruled for Ateneo-Fudgee Barr with 17 points on 14 attacks, two blocks, and an ace.
Pacinio backstopped him with 16 points and 23 excellent receptions, while Matthew Salarzon added 15 points of his own.
Jetlee Gopio contributed 11 points as well for the Blue Eagles, who had seven aces to the Troopers’ one.
Both squads will have a four-day breather, before returning to the Paco venue on Thursday.
Army-Katinko will look to pump life to its dimming playoff chances at 2:30 pm against the Lions, while Ateneo-Fudgee Barr will face league-leading Cignal at 5:30 pm.
