ATENEO DOWNS UP FOR 5TH WIN

ATENEO de Manila University opened its UAAP Season 87 men's volleyball second-round campaign with a rousing 25-16, 25-18, 25-21 victory over University of the Philippines (UP) on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

Dan Nicolas and Tommy Castrodes attempted to put the Fighting Maroons on the board, closing within 16-18 in the third, but the Blue Eagles decided to end it in straight sets.

Amil Pacinio, Jettlee Gopio and Jian Salarzon teamed up in Ateneo's finisher to lift its record to 5-3 at solo third, above idle UST Golden Spikers and De La Salle Green Spikers at 4-3.

Pacinio finished with 17 points on 12-of-19 attacks, three aces and two blocks along with four digs to lead the Blue Eagles to the one-hour, 17-minute win.

Kennedy Batas, the Most Valuable Player race leader after the first round, chipped in 14 points on 13 attacks and one ace along with 10-of-15 excellent re-ceptions, while Salarzon got 10 points.

The Blue Eagles dominated the Fighting Maroons in the spiking and service departments, 45-35 and 7-0, respectively.

Ateneo will be back next Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum against Adamson Univer-sity.

Nicolas and Castrodes paced the Fighting Maroons with 10 points each with the latter, a rookie out of Adamson High School, getting 12 excellent receptions. Olayemi Raheem con-tributed nine points.

UP looks to return to the win column on Wednesday against defending champion National University at the FilOil EcoOil Center in San Juan.

2025-03-22T16:21:36Z