Starting center, Greg Slaughter, opened the scoring barrage for the blue & white as he scored 8 of Ateneo’ first 10 points. The Eagles also showed good defense when thy held UST scoreless for more than 4 minutes. Ateneo was on top by 4, 14-10, when the buzzer sounded ending the first quarter.

A trey from Oping Sumalinog gave the Eagles a 3 point advantage after UST tied the game at 14 at the start of the second quarter. Three deadlocks and three lead changes later, the Eagles found themselves down by 3 points at the half, 30-33, following an 8-0 run by UST.

Slaughter was still leading the offense for Ateneo in the third canto. The 7-footer took the ball strong to the basket to get the foul and free throws for Ateneo. Treys from Ryan Buenafe and Sumalinog gave the Eagles a bit of breathing room at the end of the third quarter with an 8 point lead, 50-42.

A nail-biting fourth quarter ensued when the Tigers scored 7 straight points to cut Ateneo’s lead to 2. The Eagles managed to hold on to a slim lead until a 3 point basket from UST tied the game at 59. Slaughter was able to get the lead back to the blue & white but Jeric Teng had an answer to that and the game was tied again with less than 2 minutes remaining in the quarter.

With less than a minute to go in the final canto, another answered basket tied the game at 63. It was Ateneo ball when Coach Sandy Arespacochaga called for time with 5.7 seconds left. Ravena pulled up for a jumper that gave Ateneo a 2 point lead, 65-63, with 1.1 seconds remaining. At the other end of the court, Slaughter blocked what could have been a game winning 3 pointer from UST to give Ateneo their third win in the preseason tournament.

Slaughter led all scorers with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Gonzaga added 11 while Buenafe chipped in 9.

The next game of the Blue Eagles will be on Saturday, April 28, 3:30 pm against neighbors University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.

SCORES:
ATENEO (65): Slaughter 23, Gonzaga 11, Buenafe 9, Sumalinog 8, Ravena 6, Salva 6, Erram 2, Tiongson 0, Elorde 0, Golla 0, Chua 0

UST (63): Mariano 18, Fortuna 13, Afuang 11, Teng 8, Ferrer 4, Abdul 4, Bautista 3, Pe 2, Lo 0, Hainga 0, Vigil 0, Mamaril 0

In the first set, the Lady Eagles had an early lead over the Lady Tams. Well placed attacks from Fille Cainglet and Alyssa Valdez kept the Lady Eagles in the driver seat. Guest player Phee Nok Kesinee and veteran Dzi Gervacio teamed up to block off the attacks of FEU.

Ateneo kept going in the second quarter for a 2-0 set lead over the Lady Tams. But miscommunication and errors on the side of Ateneo allowed FEU to take the third set, 19-25. But the Lady Eagles were able to recover in the fourth set with Cainglet and Valdez leading the way.

Cainglet led the team in scoring with 18 points while Valdez added 14. Gervacio and Kesinee combined for 26 points with 7 points coming off blocks.

Jem Ferrer had 36 excellent sets and Dennise Lazaro had 11 excellent digs.

The Lady Eagles will face the National University Lady Bulldogs on April 29, Sunday, 2:00 pm at the FilOil/Flying V Arena.

Nico Salva and Frank Golla led the team in the first quarter scoring almost all of the team’s points. The Ateneo defense also gave the Altas a hard time as UPHDS only got their first fieldgoal at the 5:32 mark of the first canto. The Eagles led for the entire game but the Altas had several chances to cut down the lead only for the Eagles to bring it back up.

Leading by as many as 12 points in the final quarter, a series of turnovers and missed baskets by the Blue Eagles capitalized by a scrappy Altas rally cut the Ateneno lead to a solitary point with less than a minute remaining in the ballgame. With about 20 seconds left, Oping Sumalinog scored on a breakaway layup coming off a turnover by the Altas’ Earl Thompson. The Altas would quickly answer back with a booming triple by Jett Vidal that tied the game at 60 with about 13 seconds left on the clock. After a timeout called by Coach Sandy Arespacochaga, Ateneo took back the lead after big man Greg Slaughter was fouled  following an offensive board off a Nico Salva miss. Slaughter made both charities to put the Blue Eagles ahead by 2 with 3 seconds left in the clock.

Salva led all scorers with 15 points while Oping Sumalinog and Kiefer Ravena each contributed 11 and 10 respectively. Slaughter finished the game with a double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, as well as 2 blocked shots. The Altas’ Femi Babayemi had one of his own with 12 points and 15 boards but could not find enough support from his teammates.

Ateneo’s 37% shooting from the field and 47% from the stripe will be needing improvement as the tourney goes on and the opposing teams get tougher. Aside from Coach Norman Black, another notable absence was returning forward Ryan Buenafe who appeared to have hurt his ankle prior to the game but is expected to be back in harness soon.

The next game of the Blue Eagles will be against the reigning NCAA champions, San Beda College Red Lions, on Saturday, April 21, 3:30 pm at the FilOil/Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Article by Mikko Abello

Now on its 14^th year, the ANA 2012 was held at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater last Friday, March 9. Coaches, athletes, and team managers of the 14 Ateneo varsity teams attended the awards ceremony hosted by former Blue Babble Battalion, Gico Sinjian, and former Ateneo Women’s Football player, Cristina Garcia.

The first award given out that night was the Team Manager of the Year. Baseball’s Jose Cruz and Women’s Volleyball’s Synjin Reyes won the award. Blue Eagle Tonino Gonzaga won the Step Up Athlete of the Year while graduating Badminton player Paolo Sunga was given the X-Factor award.

The top awards for the night – the Lady Eagle & Blue Eagle of the Year was awarded to Celina Gonzalez of the Women’s Swimming team and Toby Gadi of the Men’s Badminton team respectively. Both Gonzalez and Gadi were also recognized as the Guidon-Moro Lorenzo Sportswoman & Sportsman of the Year. Andrea Faustman of the Women’s Shooting Team was recognized as the Ambrosio Padilla awardee as well.

The awardees received the ANA trophy as well as flip-flops from Havaianas, one of the Major sponsors of the event. Additionally the Lady Eagle and Blue Eagle of the Year received gift cards from Titan.

The rookies of the year and the most valuable players of each team were also acknowledged in the ANA. A number of athletes also went home with prizes that night courtesy of Havianas, Titan, and Chalk magazine. The Athletes Night Band, formerly known as Chris Graham and the Crackers, showcased their talent by delivering the music for the night.

University President, Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin, was unable to personally attend but sent his congratulatory video message to the Ateneo athletes. He emphasized that “as Ateneans..our formation is also focused on things that are not just of the mind but also of the body & heart.” Fr. Jett reminded the athletes to bear in their minds, hearts, and bodies “the spirit of courage, of bravery, of true eagles.”

It was a fitting celebration and ending to another impressive year for Ateneo sports. And everyone is in agreement that things will only get better from here on out.

GO, ATENEO! ONE BIG FIGHT!

The Ateneo Athletes Night Awards 2012 would like to thank our Major Sponsors: Havaianas Philippines, Titan, Figaro Loyola Heights, Kyss; Our Minor Sponsor: GetBlued; and our Official Print Partner: Chalk Magazine

The Lady Eagles started strong and confident in the game. They had a 4-0 lead over the Lady Spikers at the start of the first set. They kept the lead for the whole first set with their 18 attack points. With set point advantage in their courts, the Lady Eagles were able to close out the first set with a service error from DLSU’s Michelle Gumabao.

The second set started with both teams exchanging points. An Alyssa Valdez kill tied the set at 5 and the Lady Eagles were able to take the lead when a La Salle attack went out. It was a tight set after that and no team was able to lead with more than three points until La Salle started to pull away. Reception and unforced errors cost Ateneo the second set, 21-25.

It was another see-saw start in the third set as both teams exchanged leads. But Valdez, with a couple of kills, gave Ateneo a 4 point lead, 12-8, prompting La Salle to take a break. The Lady Eagles seemed to be in control of the set, with a 6 point lead at the second technical timeout, 16-10, but the Lady Spikers tried to climb back into the game and went within 1, 21-20, before Dzi Gervacio got a kill that scrambled La Salle’s defense. But a reception error from Ateneo cost them the set point advantage and eventually the set.

Despite scoring the first point of the fourth set, the Lady Eagles saw themselves down by 4, 2-6, because of reception errors. Coach Roger Gorayeb made his first substitution of the game by bringing in Ella de Jesus for Alyssa Valdez. After the first technical timeout, Ateneo was down by 5, 4-9, but Gretchen Ho was able to stop the bleeding with an attack. The Lady Eagles slowly chipped off the lead of the green and white, coming within 2, 9-11, courtesy of back to back points from Ella de Jesus. A service ace from Gervacio got Ateneo within 2 again, 16-18, but the Lady Eagles’ defense seemed to falter, allowing the green & white to take Game 2 of the Finals.

Rookie Valdez led Ateneo in scoring with 24 points while team captain Fille Cainglet added 13 points and right wing spiker Gervacio chipped in 10.

The Lady Eagles will try to recover from this loss in the third game of the finals series. Game 3 will be played on Wednesday, February 29, 2 pm at the FilOil/Flying V Arena.

GO ATENEO! ONE BIG FIGHT!

The Lady Eagles dropped the first set against La Salle but the next three sets showed the hunger of the Ateneo six. It was a very tight match as both teams managed to lead with only a few points in the first three sets. The Lady Eagles were able to breakaway in the fourth set when La Salle seemed to commit error after error and were not able to recover.

Rookie Alyssa Valdez led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 24 points with 4 service aces. Team captain Fille Cainglet added 19 while Dzi Gervacio chipped in 12.

Cainglet also had 15 excellent digs while libero Dennise Lazaro had 10. Jem Ferrer had 57 excellent sets in the match.

Game 2 is set for Saturday, February 25, 2 pm at the FilOil/Flying V Arena.

The Hail Mary 9 started strong with national team player Matt Laurel hitting a 3 run homer to give Ateneo a 3-0 lead. After three scoreless innings for both teams, Charles Catangui hit a double to bring Adriene Bernardo home, giving the Eagles a 4-0 lead over the Bulldogs.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Eagles added three more runs to their score courtesy of Catangui, Dio Remollo, and Paco Tantuico for a commanding 7-0 lead. But a catching error in the bottom of the eighth allowed NU to try to catch up and score 4 runs.

But the Eagles would not be denied. They got 4 runs on the top of the ninth inning for a little breathing room. With a great display of defense in the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Eagles were able to stave off the NU squad, taking Game 1 in a best of three series.

Game 2 will be played on Sunday, February 26, 9 am, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The Lady Eagles were able to take an early 2 set lead behind the attacks of team captain Fille Cainglet, Alyssa Valdez, and Angeline Gervacio. But errors in the third set allowed the Tigresses to stretch the match to a fourth set.

Valdez scored 8 points in the fourth set to give the Lady Eagles the set and the match.

Ateneo will face archrivals De La Salle University, who enjoys a thrice-to beat advantage, in the Finals. Game 1 is set for Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2 pm at the FilOil/Flying V Arena in San Juan.

GO, ATENEO! ONE BIG FIGHT!

The Hail Mary 9, who lost their last elimination game against DLSU, showed an exceptional display on both offense and defense. They got an early 6-0 lead after the first inning with runs from Adriene Bernardo, Kevin Ramos, Charles Catangui, Paco Tantuico, Dio Remollo, and Kirk Long.

La Salle was able to sneak in 2 runs in the third inning on Ateneo’s errors but the Blue Eagles regained composure to score 5 runs in the bottom of the third with Catangui hitting a 3 run triple for a commanding 11-2 lead.

The Blue Eagles continued their hits with Dio Remollo hitting a 2 run homerun in the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the umpires stopped the game due to the heavy rains pouring in the area. After some time, the head umpire called game and the Blue Eagles secured the first Finals spot.

Game 1 of the Finals will be held on Thursday, February 23, 9 am at the Rizal Memorial Ballpark. The Blue Eagles will face National University, who is also looking to end their title drought in baseball.

SCORES: Catangui 3, Remollo 3, Bernardo, A. 2, Ramos 2, Tantuico 1, Long 1, Tan 1

The Lady Eagles fell once again to the University of the East Lady Batters, 2-4.

Ateneo was down after the bottom of the first inning when UE scored a run. But the Lady Eagles were able to recover on top of the third inning when they scored two runs courtesy of Arabela Angliongto and Maria Rosella Cruz.

But the lady batters from Recto recovered and scored three more runs to end the campaign of the Lady Eagles.

Ateneo closes UAAP 74 with 2 wins.

*****

On Sunday, Feb. 12, the Ateneo Blue Eagles ended the elimination with a 7-3 win-loss record. They dropped their final game of eliminations against the De La Salle University Archers, 9-11. The loss puts them in second place with a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final 4.

The Blue Eagles will face the archers again for the Final 4 match on Thursday, Feb. 16, 10:30 am, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

GO, ATENEO! ONE BIG FIGHT!