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UAAP PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines—Jian Salarzon and Abai Llenos combined to lead Ateneo past winless University of the Philippines, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19, to end a high-scoring first round of the UAAP Season 85 men’s volleyball tournament on Sunday in Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Salarzon, a freshman, led the charge with 17 points built on 14 attacks and three blocks as the Blue Eagles finished the first half with a 3-4 record.
Llenos was also instrumental with 15 points from 12 attacks, two blocks, and an ace to go with 14 receptions, while Ken Batas added 11 markers, including three blocks.
“We are very happy and thankful to be able to win this game, the last game of the first round. We hope to carry this momentum into the second round,” said Ateneo coach Timmy Sto. Tomas. “In the first round, we had a problem with confidence. team because most of our games are very close. It’s our loss, we lead, and then suddenly we collapse.
“Hopefully, during this break we will enter the second round. We can still tweak it a little bit to reduce such fluctuations on the field during the game,” he said.
Salarzon promises to do better in the second half as he needs more wins to reach the Final Four, holding fifth place behind undefeated National University (6-0), second seed University of Santo Tomas (6-1), Far Eastern University ( 5). -2), and La Salle (4-2).
“Our mindset is to give our best every game to make it to the Final Four,” Salarzon said in Filipino. “I would love to play for my dream school. I can feel the pressure because the level of competition here is different. But our senior friends kept pushing us to the field and giving us courage.
UP will go for its first win against hapless Adamson on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Fighting Maroons got contributions from their bench with Ranz Cajolo leading the way with nine points, while Jessie Rubin, Ruskin Ijiran, and Daniel Nicolas added seven markers.
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