Ateneo Men's Volleyball Match 6: The Sum of All Their Fears

The Sum of All Their Fears
Ateneo vs. UP
25-22, 25-10, 18-25, 20-25, 24-22
by rick olivares

The late American journalist Dorothy Thompson once said that “The most destructive element in the human mind is fear. Fear creates aggressiveness.”

After thrashing the UP Maroon Spikers 25-10 to go up two sets to none, the Ateneo Men’s Volleyball Team was bouncing around their side of the court with absolute glee. Thinking their neighbor down Katipunan Avenue was out for the count, they let their guard down which of course, eventually allowed UP back into the match.

By the time the match had clocked to close to more than an hour and a half, UP had leveled matters at two and two and held the lead 8-2 at the turn of the fifth and final set.

There was a look of confusion, anxiety, and fear on the faces of JR Intal, Ed Ortega, and AJ Pareja. Could it be another case of history repeating itself?

Some seven months earlier, the two squads met in an Intercollegiate tournament and Ateneo took the first two sets only to see UP sent it to a deciding fifth set which they took after they had racked up a score into the 30’s. The Blue Spikers seethed and couldn’t wait to get back at UP.

The Maroons are a smaller version of the UST Men’s Team. While they aren’t exactly the tallest team, they make up for it with total team play. One is never sure whom to concentrate their defense because they all score. And their open spiker Michael Jordan Arda plays every bit like his basketball namesake as he piles in a ton of points while leading UP in scoring (he is number seven in the league). And today, he was raining points from spikes, blocks, and serves.

After racing to an early 3-0 lead in the third set, UP Coach Vip Isada urged his team to play tighter defense on Pareja which they did. With the Ateneo’s captain’s guns jammed, the two setters Ed Ortega and Rey Africa couldn’t find a worse time to falter in getting the offense going. “I think they got rattled,” said Ateneo Coach Oliver Almadro. “We all got rattled.”

As the momentum shifted the doubts and memories of the summer meltdown resurfaced. Even worse, “will history repeat itself?” thought Pareja. In the previous two seasons, Ateneo won their last couple of matches heading into the Christmas break; something that gave them confidence coming into the New Year. However, when the matches resumed in January, that was all she wrote and the team failed to chalk up another win.

As Teves misplayed a reception before the change court in the fifth set, he threw up his hands in bewilderment. “Medyo na frustrate ako,” he recalled of the moment. “Kailangan may magawa ako para tulungan yung team ko.”

The freshman out of Canossa Academy in Batangas scored the next three points off spikes to breathe life into Ateneo’s game. It was the lift the team needed as suddenly the team clicked once more. Ortega’s nifty drop shot edged Ateneo closer at 8-7 before AJ Pareja tied the match and seized the momentum back.

And perhaps in their watershed game of the year and Ateneo men’s volleyball, the team came together to win back the game and drag those monsters of doubt from under their bed and into sunlight screaming.

Xavier Señoren, the frosh out of La Salle Zobel who while raw isn’t short on spunk and heart, made up for an earlier net error by scoring a point off a check out on UP’s Mark Sagad that gave Ateneo a 11-10 lead. It was probably his best game in blue thus far as he added 11 points of his own to help the overall effort.

JR Intal was somewhat off in his offense but his defense at the net was crucial as were his 9 points.

Even after they blew a13-11 lead in the fifth set and was later a point down 21-22, the team kept their composure and showed their resolve as they clawed back from the brink of defeat to take their fifth win in six matches. Timmy Sto. Tomas and Pareja scored three points apiece in the stretch to give Ateneo a pulsating 24-22 win.

As the titanic battle concluded, Intal kneeled on the floor in both relief and exhaustion. “We didn’t give up,” he marveled later inside the team’s locker room.

Almadro perhaps drained by the long match that had taken two hours to play finished the contents of his energy drink. “They are finally seeing yung fruits ng hard work nila. Maganda ‘to for our confidence. Ang sabi ko lang sa kanila is huwag sila matakot at maging maingay sila sa court. Kailangan maging aggressive at sila mag-dictate ng laro.”

“Nakita naman natin yung resulta, di ba?”