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UAAP: Ateneo stays alive, outlasts FEU behind unstoppable Marck Espejo

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/04/21/ar2_7130e_1.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>Ateneo&#x27;s Marck Espejo celebrates a point against the FEU Tamaraws in their Final 4 game. Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Reigning four-time Most Valuable Player Marck Espejo uncorked a record-setting performance to power the Ateneo Blue Eagles past Far Eastern University, and stay alive in the UAAP Season 80 men&#x27;s volleyball Final 4 on Saturday.Espejo was unstoppable all game long, scoring 55 points – a league record – to tow the defending champions to a hard-earned 18-25, 25-13, 24-26, 25-23, 15-9 triumph over the Tamaraws at the Mall of Asia Arena.With the victory, the third-seeded Blue Eagles forced a do-or-die game against the second-seeded Tamaraws on Wednesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan. This also marked the first time in Season 80 that Ateneo had beaten FEU, after the Tamaraws swept them in the elimination round.&quot;Marck is a monster,&quot; Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro said after the game, which ran for two hours and 21 minutes as the two squads exchanged blows with each other. &quot;He was there in defense. He struggled a little bit in his service.&quot;&quot;But when it mattered, he made the points sa serve. That&#x27;s what I&#x27;m telling my players – you have to make a point when it matters. Fifty-five doesn&#x27;t matter if you don&#x27;t make it at the right time. But he made it at the right time,&quot; he added.The Tamaraws had no answer for Espejo, who scored 47 points off kills, had six kill blocks, and fired two aces – including a clutch point off his serve in the final set. The Blue Eagles needed every last one of Espejo&#x27;s historic effort, however, as no other Ateneo player reached double-digits and they gave away 34 points off their errors.Ateneo also struggled to stop FEU&#x27;s JP Bugaoan, who scored back-to-back kills to trim Ateneo&#x27;s lead to one point, 7-8, in Set 5.An exchange of kills by Ateneo&#x27;s Ron Medalla and FEU&#x27;s Jude Garcia made it 9-8 in favor of the Blue Eagles, before Garcia sent his serve to the net for a two-point Ateneo cushion. Espejo then made it 11-8 with a smart swipe off the FEU blockers.A quick hit by Bugaoan kept the Tamaraws alive, 9-11, before Espejo took over once more. The high-leaping open hitter scored Ateneo&#x27;s last four points of the match – including a kill block on Redijohn Paler to bring his team to match point, and the off-the-block hit that wrapped up the win.&quot;Iniisip ko talaga, hindi last game. Iniisip ko, may training pa kami bukas,&quot; said Espejo, who finished with one more attack point than the entire FEU team, 47-46. &quot;Basta, iniisip ko na kapag binigay sa akin &#x27;yung bola, kailangan ko pumuntos talaga.&quot;<div>Come from behind win</div>It was a come-from-behind win for the Blue Eagles, who found themselves trailing one set to two after the Tamaraws stood firm in the closing stretches of the third frame.FEU surged ahead, 23-22, after Espejo committed a service error, but the Ateneo veteran responded by tying the match. A combination play that resulted to a Richard Solis kill put FEU at set point, 24-23, before Espejo again tied the frame with an off-the-block hit.But a kill by Jude Garcia, and a block by Raymond Bautista on John Rivera won the frame for FEU, putting them on the brink of their first Finals appearance since Season 75.The Blue Eagles, however, would not be denied. They raced to a 17-13 lead in the fourth set, and after FEU clawed its way back to make it a one-point game, 22-23, Espejo took charge with a thunderous kill for set point. Bugaoan saved on set point for the Tamaraws, but Espejo proved too good as he fired a down the line attack in the next rally to send the match to a decider.There was simply no stopping the MVP in the fifth set, as he single-handedly outscored the entire FEU team, 11-9. His final hit – a smash that bounced off the arms of the FEU blockers – sent the Ateneo bench in a tearful celebration.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Greatest of all time <a href="https://t.co/DvV0eHvAOO">pic.twitter.com/DvV0eHvAOO</a>— Camille B. Naredo (@camillenaredo) <a href="https://twitter.com/camillenaredo/status/987615527337017344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2018</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div>Rivera was the next leading scorer for Ateneo with eight points; Ish Polvorosa finished with 45 excellent sets. The Blue Eagles overwhelmed FEU on offense, as they had 66 kills in the game to make up for their error-prone ways.Garcia and Bugaoan each had 15 points, while Paler finished with 12. But FEU still has no answer for Espejo, who torched them for 39 points in their second round meeting – a tough five-set win for the Tamaraws.&quot;Hindi pa tapos,&quot; said Almadro. &quot;Sabi ko nga, they beat us twice. We will try to beat them twice. Nakakuha na kami ng isa, so we will really work hard, and if we can, triple the effort para mabawi namin ang isa pa.&quot;For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

Espejo scored a league-record 55 points to tow the defending champion Blue Eagles to an 18-25, 25-13, 24-26, 25-23, 15-9 win over the Tamaraws Saturday.

Espejo scored a league-record 55 points to tow the defending champion Blue Eagles to an 18-25, 25-13, 24-26, 25-23, 15-9 win over the Tamaraws Saturday.

UAAP: Ateneo stays alive, outlasts FEU behind unstoppable Marck Espejo

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UAAP: Ateneo stays alive, outlasts FEU behind unstoppable Marck Espejo

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 21, 2018 04:56 PM PHT

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Updated Apr 21, 2018 06:33 PM PHT

Read More:

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uaap season 80

uaap volleyball

feu tamaraws

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