ATENEO is four wins away from a sweep of the UAAP Season 79 volleyball eliminations, but coach Oliver Almadro said it is far from his mind.
Ateneo bucked a slow start to dispatch University of Santo Tomas, 22-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-21, on Saturday to earn a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
“Hindi ko minemention sa team ko yan. I never mention that to my team, ’yung sweep. I don’t even bother to say that word because for me that 10 wins is history. What’s important for us is to win the remaining games. And what’s important for us is to win the last game of the season,” Almadro said.
Marck Espejo had a season-high 27 points, including 13 attacks, as the Blue Eagles notched their 10th win.
Ateneo dropped a set for just the third time this season, then returned to its dominant form the next three sets.
“Unang una, sabi ko nga execution sa mga players ko, first set we gambled by we did not execute. But sa second set, sabi ko sa mga players ko, I’m proud of their resiliency, they bounced back,” Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro said.
Manuel Medina led the Tiger Spikers with 13 points, while Jerico Jose added another 11 points.
University of the Philippines downed University of the East, 25-22, 25-23, 25-18, in the other match.
The Fighting Maroons are in fourth place with a 5-5 card, while UE fell to 1-9.
Alfred Valbuena led the Fighting Maroons with 19 points coming from 18 spikes, while John Millete added 13.
Edward Camposano scored 15 for UE.
Gabriel Pe