Ateneo Notches Second Straight UAAP Men’s Volleyball Title

The defending UAAP Men’s Volleyball champion Ateneo notches its second straight UAAP title by ripping apart the determined National University on Wednesday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena. The finals game between UAAP and NU with a victorious 25-16, 25-20, 25-19, win for the Ateneo Blue Eagles.

Ateneo Defeats NU

Ateneo’s 13-elimination round record is considered as historical for the defending champion and for reigning UAAP MVP Marck Espejo who also won his third straight MVP trophy with the Best Spiker, and Best Server awards while Ish Polvorosa was awarded with the Best Setter award.

According to Blue Eagles head coach Oliver Almadro, defending the title was somewhat worrisome experience for his team because it was the first time they went to the Finals as the champions.

The Blue Eagles outgoing team captain Ysay Marasigan was awarded the Finals MVP trophy as he led his team with 12 points, while season MVP Marck Espejo and Joshua Villanueva had 11 points apiece during their game against the National University.

During the finals game against NU, no Bulldog players finished in double-digit scoring after Rookie of the Year James Natividad being limited to just eight points, while Philipp Saura had only seven.

With the huge success of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in Men’s Volleyball competition of the UAAP, the Blue Eagles will be having a higher expectations for Season 79 but right now they will enjoy first their back-to-back title.

In an interview with the media, Ateneo Head Coach Almadro was quoted as saying “Enjoy muna namin yung back-to-back (We are going to enjoy the back-to-back championship first),” Almadro said. “But I can say that I have the materials to make another title run because the program of Ateneo is really good.”

During the Game 1 of the UAAP Men’s Volleyball championship, Ateneo defeated National University Bulldogs with the final score of the 23-25 25-20 25-17 25-18.

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