Eagles choke, Bulldogs get a treat

Ateneo 2, NU 3
[25-16, 25-22, 16-25, 22-25, 13-15]

In their second game of the season, the Ateneo de Manila men’s volleyball team failed to finish strong and defeat the National University Bulldogs in straight sets. Poised to take the game after winning the first two sets, Ateneo fumbled and lost 2-3 [25-16, 25-22, 16-25, 22-25, 13-15] to a rookie-laden NU squad.

“I don’t understand how we can win the first two sets and lose the next three miserably,” University Athletics Director Ricky Palou said.

Coming off a first-game loss against UST, the Eagles looked refreshed and confident enough to take the Bulldogs–coached by former Ateneo mentor Oliver Almadro–as their first victim.

Ateneo improved communication on and off the court to floor NU 25-16 in the first set. Sophomore Neil Patrick Flores sampled several digs that gave the Eagles winning possessions.

In the second set, Ateneo went toe-to-toe with an NU squad that started to put in more muscle into their attacks. Ateneo ultimately outsmarted them to cinch the set 25-22.

Rookie Ricci Gonzales jumpstarted the Eagles’ scoring with two big attacks to open the third set. However, things went down hill from there. Ateneo scored mostly from NU’s errors but didn’t create much opportunities to attack.

The third set meltdown allowed the Bulldogs to stretch the game to a deciding fifth set. Ateneo led 8-6 early on, but lost 13-15 as bad receives and service errors did them in.

Post-game, a frustrated assistant coach Timmy Sto. Tomas said that Ateneo looked like they came out to play, but not to win.

Watch Ateneo’s next game against Adamson on December 5, Sunday, 9AM at the FilOil Arena to find out whether the boys prove themselves to be top contenders in this year’s UAAP.