MANILA, Philippines - Outhit, Ateneo went to its blocking and solid serving to blast National U, 25-17, 25-18, 25-19, and move a win closer to a historic sweep of the Spikers’ Turf Season 1-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.
Rex Intal took charge with a seven-block effort while Ysrael Marasigan scored three aces to help spike the Eagles’ impressive 66-minute victory over the Bulldogs in the opener of their best-of-three series.
The Bulldogs, who humbled the NCAA champion Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals in the semis, came away with 36 attack points, including 10 from Bryan Bagunas, as they beat the league’s top-spiking team by five. But the Eagles made up for this with a solid blocking, scoring 10 points, while pouncing on their rivals’ poor reception to net eight aces.
Intal finished with a topscoring 15-hit output while Marck Espejo settled for nine points after running away with the MVP plum. Marasigan, Karl Baysa, Joshua Villanueva and Joner Polvorosa combined for 23 points to help propel the Eagles to the victory.