Ateneo had the distinction of going undefeated in the finals of the UAAP men’s volleyball tournament for the past three seasons, until now.
The Blue Eagles saw their immaculate finals streak get snapped on Saturday when the three-time defending champions dropped to National University, 25-20, 25-19, 25-23, at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ateneo’s last loss in the finals was back in Season 76, the year four-time MVP Marck Espejo became a rookie MVP and the Blue Eagles got swept by the Bulldogs.
That, however, doesn’t bother Espejo at all.
“There’s no pressure on us, especially on us seniors, because we’re used to the finals,” said Espejo, who along with Setter Ish Polvorosa and skipper Karl Baysa are on their last year with the Blue Eagles, in Filipino.
“We’re always here year by year. It’s just that we haven’t executed our plays perfectly and it seemed that we were waiting for NU to make its move instead of just doing our own thing.”
Apart from Ateneo’s streak getting snapped, Espejo’s personal scoring tear also grinded to a halt.
Espejo set the league record for the single highest scoring game with 55 points against Far Eastern University in the Final Four and followed it up with 37 in the second game against the Tamaraws.
After averaging 46 points a game in the semifinals, Espejo fell to earth scoring just 17 against the Bulldogs.
“I wasn’t able to adjust so my output wasn’t really that high so I’ll just have to double my effort in our next game,” said Espejo whose team is now one loss away from losing the title.