Spikers’ Turf: Ateneo first into semis

Ateneo survived the scoring onslaught of Emilio Aguinaldo College’s star spiker as the Blue Eagles hacked out a 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23 triumph to clinch the first semifinal berth in the Spikers’ Turf Collegiate Conference Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Arena.

Marck Espejo, Ysay Marasigan, Joshua Villanueva and Rex Intal teamed up in the tight four-setter to lift the Eagles past the Generals, who fought behind the record 41-point explosion of Howard Mojica.

“We had a deeper bench and that helped us a lot,” said Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro after the fierce battle between the two collegiate champions.

The Eagles stayed unbeaten for a 5-0 quarterfinal record with Espejo likewise putting on a show in a 25-point finish.

National College of Business and Arts also figured in a thriller as the newcomer Wildcats incredibly rallied from two sets down to stun La Salle, 25-27, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-9, and stay in the semifinal hunt.

Paul John Domingo fired 19 points to power the Wildcats, who tied their victims at third place with a 2-2 card.

Espejo impressively fired five of the team’s six aces that helped the Eagles claim the third frame, 25-23, after the Generals tied the match at one set apiece.

While Espejo drew support, Mojica virtually did it all for the Generals as he unleashed 38 of his team’s total 48 attacks.

“He’s one of the strongest players, if not the strongest, in the country today,” Almadro said of Mojica, the reigning NCAA MVP.

Espejo also had 18 kills, the last putting the Eagles at match point, 24-22, before Marasigan sealed it with an open hit.

Marasigan unloaded all but one of his 12 points on spikes, while Villanueva finished with 11 points for the UAAP champions.

Intal chipped in 10 points for the Eagles, who recovered in the final frames after Mojica took over in the second set where the Generals pulled away 16-10 on the way to a 25-20 set win.

USJ tops Shakey’s girls volley regional

Meanwhile, University of San Jose-Recoletos proved steadier than Southwestern U in a back-and-forth decider as it pulled off a 25-21, 25-17, 25-23 victory to rule the Shakey’s Girls Volleyball League Season 13 Central Visayas leg at the Cebu City Sports Institute recently.

USJ’s Ma. Christine Dior Vergara went on to bag the Most Valuable Player and Best Outside Attack awards.

Action resumes Saturday with the staging of the NCR elimination at Ynares Sports Arena, followed by the Northern Mindanao leg on Aug. 28 to 31 in Cagayan de Oro City and Eastern Visayas on Sept. 3 to 6 in Tacloban City.