Eagles, Tams dispute 2nd finals berth

MANILA, Philippines — Four-peat-seeking Ateneo and title-hungry Far Eastern U go at it one more time to dispute the second finals berth in the UAAP Season 80 men’s volleyball tournament today at the Filoil Flying V Center.

The third-ranked Blue Eagles forced the 2 p.m. rubbermatch with the No. 2 Tamaraws via a gutsy 18-25, 25-13, 24-26, 25-23, 15-9 victory sparked by the 55-point outburst of Marck Espejo in the first game of the Final Four last Saturday.

Waiting in the wings is top seed National U, which advanced to the best-of-three finals first by disposing of No. 4 University of Santo Tomas, 25-13, 25-13, 31-29.

“As I said, they beat us twice in the eliminations and we’ll try to beat them twice in the Final Four. Nakakuha na kami ng isa (we got one in the Final Four already) and we’ll really work hard, triple the effort (to complete the job),” said AdMU coach Oliver Almadro.

Espejo dished out a performance for the ages in that do-or-die game for Ateneo, producing 47 points on attacks, six on blocks and two on service aces. The four-time MVP made 81 attempts out of AdMU’s 151 total in that first match, receiving most of the 45 excellent sets issued by Ish Polvorosa.

“Syempre, hindi maiiwasan na pag-aralan ng FEU itong Game 1 pero kahit anong gawin nila, kahit bantayan nila ako, basta ang tiwala sa teammates ko andyan (For sure, FEU will review Game 1 but whatever adjustments they make, I’m confident my teammates will handle it),” said Espejo.

“Kung kaya pa sana malagpasan iyung performance namin nung Game 1 (If possible, we have to match our Game 1 performance ),” he added.

FEU coach Rey Diaz, whose wards look to end a six-year title drought, said it will be more on “mental” adjustments for their part, preparing to handle the situation and if possible, contain Espejo.

He, however, expressed belief that the more Espejo does the work for Ateneo, the more advantageous it will be for the Tams.