Ateneo Men's Volleyball: Match 3 Standing Tall

Standing Tall *
Ateneo vs. La Salle
20-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-11, 15-13
by rick olivares

The score stood at 16-10 in the second set with De La Salle nine points away from taking a huge two-sets-to-none lead from the Ateneo Men’s Spikers. First year Coach Oliver Almadro called his third timeout of the match to settle down his tentative and confused squad.

Almadro grabbed the stat sheet that his assistant Efren Amorato had been compiling since the start of the game. “Wala na ‘to,” he hissed at his team as he crumpled the paper and threw it towards the bench. “Ang importante ngayon ay ilaro natin kung ano yung atin at huwag sumunod sa gusto nila. Dapat maniwala kayo sa sarili ninyo na kaya niyong bumalik.”

Although Ateneo still lost that set, they rallied to make a game of it before falling 25-21.

But they had La Salle right where they wanted them.

Almadro, riding high on a two-game win streak prior to the match, prepared his team well. The Green Spikers love the fast play and talk plenty of trash to distract their foes. At first it was matching that kind of game instead of staying within the flow of their offense.

Xavier Senoren came into the game with mixed feelings. He spent his elementary and secondary education at De La Salle Santiago De Zobel and nearly continued his path to Taft had not he been recruited early on.

“I’m going up against my alma mater,” he said with a wistful tone before managing a smile. “But pusong Atenista na ako.”

He collected himself and along with his teammates to draw a line in the sand –in this case at the nets – to say enough is enough.

The third set was a game of nerves as the Blue Spikers, cheered on by a small band of supporters, outlasted their foes 25-23.

Despite the humid atmosphere in the FEU Gym, they reached deep into their reservoir of their heart and found the verve to jump higher and hustle for seemingly lost and broken plays. And more importantly, the reliables on the team got going.

JR Intal continued his steady play and has proven to be a wildcard for the team with his unpredictable dinks (that they call a dunk) and spikes from the middle position. Along with AJ Pareja who has found better accuracy when he throws the hammer down, the offense began to hum.

Rey Africa and Ed Ortega ably set up the offense while Timmy Sto. Tomas, who has grown into his role as team leader, and Duane Teves homed in on La Salle’s weak point, their libero, as they sent serve after serve in his direction. Exploiting La Salle’s inability to receive properly to go on the counter offensive, Ateneo made them pay for those free balls.

With the score at 11-4 in the fourth set and the Blue Spikers leading, a blackout hit the area forcing officials to suspend the match for close to 20 minutes. If people were worried that the lay-off would cool them down, by the time they resumed the match, Ateneo scored the next two points and the guys in green only regained possession after an error.

The fourth set ended 25-11 and the message was loud and clear – this was an entirely different Ateneo team. Their win streak was no longer a fluke and they definitely had character.

In the last two seasons, the team won two straight a couple of times but instead of stepping on the afterburners, they crashed and burned.

And with La Salle leading 8-4 in the fifth and deciding set, it seemed that the ugly trend would continue. The Green Spikers even made it 9-4 after the change court, but once more, the team dug in and held fast.

9-6. 11-8. 11-10.

Ateneo Volleyball Program Head Sherwin Malonzo sat behind Ateneo’s side of the court. As the team mounted one more incredible comeback, he got more excited with every point. “Uy, kaya pa ‘to,” he excitedly said to himself while keeping his composure.

A crucial Pareja block and a Sto. Tomas point turned the tide and when the ball found a hole in La Salle defense, the team whooped up a 15-13 victory.

They had broken the jinx that hexed them in seasons past and had become the first squad since former coach Louie Gepuela’s squad to start at 3-0 (the last time they made the finals in the NCAA; the team went 2-1 to start 1981 and also made the finals).

In last year’s tournament, Ateneo also beat La Salle in the first round that began that two-game win streak prompting their foes to dismiss it as a fluke.

They’ll have to rethink that now since Ateneo is after three matches atop the standings. But Almadro preached caution after the game, "La Salle beat FEU (the defending champions) and we beat La Salle. Hindi ibig sabihin niyan na automatic na tatalunin natin ang FEU. You now have a winning attitude but it shouldn’t stop there kasi marami pa tayo kailangan gawin.”

But it was such a huge win that Pareja momentarily fumbled with his endgame prayer. “Na blanko ako,” he managed as his teammates laughed.

“Gutom lang yan,” answered Almadro who slapped his player’s shoulder. “Let’s eat.”


Author's dedication:
* For Paolo Pareja, who thankfully had his trip to Mumbai, India postponed to watch and support his team for a while more.

Author's note: People ask me why I've been writing and following the Ateneo volleyball teams that last two years and the answer is very simple. I loved it as a sport although I played it only during intrams while in school as I stuck to football, baseball, and track.

It was four years ago when I began to follow the team at the behest of Ricky Palou and the late Jun Bernardino. And since last year, I have tried to work in a capacity of cheerleader and supporter for the squads. Around the same time when the two Sports Vision gentlemen rekindled that love for volleyball, I became friends with Ronald Dulay who was still with La Salle when we did a volleyball tourney on Solar Sports and I was active in trying to help promote the national team. When he joined Ateneo last year, we spent long hours talking about the team, volleyball, and other sports.

We even spoke about how they tried to recruit AJ Pareja for La Salle and that is quite a story that you'll all get a laugh out of). When AJ went to ADMU, I bumped into him one time in Gateway after an Ateneo game and I said thanks for coming to Ateneo (he went to Lourdes). I don't think AJ remembers that and have never bothered to remind him of that coz I don't imagine he will.

Anyways Coach Ron is now on the other side of Katipunan but I don't imagine we're not going to be chatting about the same.

But as for the for the two Ateneo volleyball squads, what's not to love?