Ateneo takes first ever UAAP Men’s Volleyball crown, dethrones NU

MANILA, Philippines—For the men from Katipunan, revenge was definitely sweet.

For the first time since joining the UAAP, Ateneo grabbed the Men’s Volleyball championship as it avenged last season’s heartache from National University 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15 Saturday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena.

NU was the reigning back-to-back champions but the Blue Eagles were hell-bent on usurping the throne from the Bulldogs.

After his middle hit was dug, veteran Rex Intal followed it up with a quick running spike that bounced off a helpless Fauzi Ismail for the championship point.

Best Setter Ish Polvoroza got another hardware in the form of the Finals MVP trophy as he averaged 46.5 sets in the two-game Finals.

It was a “long overdue” championship for the Blue Eagles, said head coach Oliver Almadro, but early or late, it was all in God’s plans.

“God is never early, He is never late,” said Almadro, who was the former coach of the Bulldogs. “A little patience, hard work and faith. It’s worth the wait.”

Ateneo held a three-point bubble in the fourth set, 11-8, then that bubble became a comforting cushion as the Blue Eagles soared to a 9-2 run to make it 20-10 with Polvoroza hitting a crosscourt spike to the surprise, and delight, of his team.

Season MVP Marck Espejo gave Ateneo a 23-15 lead with his own crosscourt kill and Ishmael Rivera hit a service ace to bring the Blue Eagles to championship point, 24-15.

“They really deserved to be the champions because their heart was there,” Almadro said. “Actually it was not revenge that made it sweet, what made it sweet was that we worked so hard for it.”

Espejo tied his career-high with 33 points while Ysrael Marasigan added 14 for Ateneo.

Peter Torres tried his best to lift NU but his 12 points could only do so much.

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