It took Ateneo the full route but the Blue Eagles still did it, foiling De La Salle U, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 14-25, 15-11, to take Game One of the V-League Men’s Collegiate Challenge semifinals at the Paco Arena in Manila on Wednesday.
The Blue Eagles kept their composure and used their defensive hustle coming off a tough fourth-set loss to frustrate the Green Spikers with Jian Salarzon and Jet Gopio delivering back-to-back kill blocks to pound out the victory in the tense-filed two-hour long encounter of bitter school rivals.
"Yung composure nila lumabas, especially coming from a bad fourth set. And then, we closed out the fifth set ng medyo maayos. Despite na may early lead kami na hinabol, they were able to refocus and compose themselves para makuha yung panalo” said Ateneo head coach Timothy Sto. Tomas.
Salarzon took another Best Player of the Game honors after leading Ateneo’s assault with 24 points on 20 attacks and four blocks, including a kill that put the Blue Eagles at match point.
Amil Pacinio added 20 markers, three of them also coming at the net, as the Blue Eagles, who also beat the Green Spikers, 25-17, 26-24, 25-15, in the elims, finished with 13 blocks.
La Salle actually matched that 13-block output, including six from JM Ronquillo, who went on to fire 26 points. Noel Kampton bounced back after a dismal game and scored 17 points.
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