MANILA, Philippines—Ateneo had a Sunday cruise after dismantling De La Salle in three sets, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15, in the UAAP Season 81 men’s volleyball tournament Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Tony Koyfmann had 15 points to lead the Blue Eagles while Chumason Njigha and Ishmael Rivera added 10 points apiece for Season 80’s runners-up.
Ateneo head coach Timothy Sto. Tomas said he was surprised his team was able to pull off the sweep against the Green Spikers since the Blue Eagles are essentially on a rebuild after the departure of setter Ish Polvorosa and Marck Espejo due to graduation.
“This is definitely a morale-booster for us because people are saying that we don’t have Marck or Ish and they’ll think that we won’t have any scorers,” said Sto. Tomas in Filipino.
“But that’s the thing because now I was able to instill in them that everyone will score for the team, that’s their mentality right now.”
Chris Dumago led La Salle with 12 points.
In the other game, Adamson University survived University of Santo Tomas in five sets, 33-31, 23-25, 16-25, 25-15, 16-14.
Paolo Pablico led the Soaring Falcons with 23 points while Lheo Miranda had 13.
Joshua Umandal had 22 points for the Tiger Spikers while Manuel Medina added 16 points.