source: Camille B. Naredo | abs-cbnnews.com

The Ateneo de Manila Lady Eagles overwhelmed the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons in straight sets to win their fourth game in the UAAP Season 74 women’s volleyball tournament Sunday afternoon at The Arena in San Juan.

The Lady Eagles sent the Lady Maroons to their fifth straight loss with scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-12.

Ateneo showed their strong offensive game in the first set, with rookie Alyssa Valdez and team captain Fille Cainglet taking advantage of good sets from Jem Ferrer.

UP was able to keep the first set close and even tied the game at 8-all. But after the first technical timeout, the Lady Eagles took over, scoring five straight points to post a 14-9 lead.

The Lady Maroons never recovered from that scoring run, and Ateneo coach Roger Gorayeb even subbed out his starters after the Lady Eagles took a 20-10 lead.

But the second set was a completely different affair as strong play from Southlyn Ramos and Angeli Araneta allowed UP to keep the set close all the way.

UP was ahead 20-18 in the second set before Cainglet took over to score three of Ateneo’s next five points and pull them ahead, 23-20. UP would only score one more point as the Lady Eagles clinched the set on an Ella de Jesus’ kill.

“We were too relaxed,” Cainglet admitted when asked of their struggles in the second set. “We were playing along, and we had a lot of errors.”

The Lady Maroons could not muster enough challenge in the third set, allowing Ateneo to close out the match.

Cainglet was named player of the game after scoring 15 points on 11 attacks, three blocks and one service ace. Valdez also scored 15 points.

Meanwhile, no one from UP was able to break into double digits, as Araneta only scored seven points while Jezza Lasmarias added six.

The Lady Eagles will close out the first half of the UAAP volleyball season on December 21 when they take on the streaking Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws.

In the first game, the University of Sto. Tomas Tigresses outclassed the National University Lady Bulldogs, winning in straight sets: 25-11, 25-21, 25-18.

It was the fourth straight win for the Tigresses, who started the season with two straight setbacks but have since found their winning form.

Maru Banaticla led a balanced UST attack with 15 points, while Maika Ortiz and Mia Hirotsuji each added eight points for the Tigresses.

Kai Nepomuceno had 12 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

source: gmanetwork.com

San Sebastian College became the first NCAA team to win the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) national championship dethroning reigning titlist Ateneo, 73-67, Thursday at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Golden Stags, losing finalist to the San Beda Red Lions in the 87th NCAA, foiled the Blue Eagles’ three-peat bid.

Calvin Abueva finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks while Ian Sangalang had 19 points and 15 rebounds as the Stags focused on their offensive game and orchestrated a stifling defense to beat the three-time PCCL champion and this season’s UAAP titlist Blue Eagles.

“We played hard, smart and have fun in winning this kind of championship,” said San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson. “I told the boys that I’m going to be hard on them on defense.”

“We can’t win if we are just going to keep on scoring against these guys so we had to make stops,” Robinson added.

No team from the NCAA has captured the national title since the league’s inception in 2003 so it was a sweet victory of sorts for the Stags after losing the Red Lions via a two-game sweep.

Robinson also registered his first title as a head coach aside from capturing the Best Coach trophy in the tournament.

The Stags, after ending the first quarter holding a slim 17-16 lead, started out strong in the second period to erect a 30-19 edge that gave the Recto-based dribblers enough cushion the entire game.

The Blue Eagles managed to come to within four twice in the fourth period (61-57 and 71-67) but the Stags, who topped the Final Four round robin to clinch the twice-to-beat edge in the finals, didn’t let up.

The Stags overcame a 56-51 defeat against Ateneo last Monday to set up the knockout match for the national title.

Kirk Long and Juami Tiongson tallied 11 points each for the Blue Eagles, who are aiming for their fourth PCCL overall title.

Greg Slaughter scored 10 while Kiefer Ravena and UAAP Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Nico Salva were held to seven and five points each.

Sangalang was named the PCCL Finals MVP and was named in the Mythical Team together with Abueva, Slaughter, Salva and University of Cebu’s Junmar Fajardo. — JVP, GMA News

Scores:

San Sebastian 73 — Abueva 20, Sangalang 19, Del Rio 10, Vitug 9, Miranda 6, Maiquez 4, Semira 3, Dela Cruz 2.

Ateneo 67 —Long 11, Tiongson 11, Slaughter 10, Erram 9, Monfort 8, Ravena 7, Salva 5, Sumalinog 3, Gonzaga 3, Golla 0, Chua 0, Austria 0.

Quarter scores: 17-16, 36-29, 57-49, 73-67.

source: Olmin Leyba | philstar.com

Two teams with contrasting fortunes in their respective mother league – UAAP four-peat champ Ateneo and NCAA bridesmaid San Sebastian – dispute the 2011 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) diadem in a rubbermatch that will either cement the Eagles’ dynasty or give the Stags a redemption of sorts.

Gametime is at 3:30 p.m. at the Arena with the Eagles out to put another feather in their cap by copping a third straight PCCL jewel and the Stags seeking to make up for a botched finish to an otherwise banner season in the NCAA by becoming the first national champions from their league.

AdMU coach Norman Black and SSC counterpart Topex Robinson anticipate another struggle in today’s you-or-me showdown, which became necessary after the Eagles outlasted the twice-to-beat Stags last Monday, 56-51.

“We just want to keep the game close and try to take advantage of every opportunity we can get,” said Robinson, still hunting for his first crown with SSC.

The Stags look to hit pay dirt this time after settling for runner-up honors to San Beda despite a blazing 15-0 start in the last NCAA cage wars.

Black said it’s important for his charges to find their shooting range against San Sebastian’s stifling zone.

“They’ve done a great job on their zone defense, getting into the passing lane, cutting off our passing angles. I mean, you always gonna struggle if you don’t shoot well from the perimeter and we have not shot well in the last couple of games, actually,” said Black, ruing their 20-of-57 (35.1 percent) marksmanship and 26 errors.

Firing blanks and turning the ball over, Ateneo went scoreless in the first six minutes of the fourth period and only scored one field goal, a jumper by Kiefer Ravena, in a 10-point final canto.

Nico Salva, the top scorer with 18 points on 7-of-10 clip from the two-point area, made four of his six freebies in the stretch to bail AdMU out.

“You know, as a coach, the game always becomes easier if you can make the outside shot and if you don’t, then everything becomes a struggle. On other side of the ball, you just have to forget about that and just concentrate on defense. In other words, if we can’t score, just make sure they don’t score,” Black said.

Ateneo will also have to find a way to contain SSC ace Calvin Abueva. Black assigned Oping Sumalinog the last time around in place of shorter Kirk Long, but the reigning NCAA MVP still got away with 16 points (6-of-19 FGs) to go with 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Abueva’s stint was down to 27 minutes in the opener, hampered by leg problems and fouling out with 1:04 left after losing possession to Sumalinog and Long. Abueva bumped into the referee in protest, getting a technical foul that was later assessed to the SSC coach.

Winner of the 2011 PCCL will take home the Manny V Pangilinan “Abutin ang Tagumpay” Perpetual Trophy that symbolizes collegiate cage supremacy.

source: Jasmine W. Payo | inquirer.net

The twice-to-beat advantage San Sebastian enjoys over four-time UAAP champion Ateneo in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League in the title playoff doesn’t seem enough for Stags coach Topex Robinson.

After nipping Ateneo in the semifinals, San Sebastian hopes to duplicate the trick in Monday’s Finals with the Stags hoping to become the first NCAA team to rule the nationwide varsity tournament.

Gametime is at 4 p.m. at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“This kind of tournament is more of a mental game,” said Robinson. “More than the physical toughness, it’s the mental toughness that’s important.”

Robinson said he doesn’t want his Stags to get too confident after their thrilling semifinal triumph over the Eagles, 70-69, where they rallied from 12-points down in the last six minutes last week.

“Hopefully we can come up with the same intensity and aggressiveness against Ateneo,” said Robinson.

San Beda and University of Cebu dispute third place in the opener at 2 p.m.

Ateneo coach Norman Black said the Eagles need to hold up their defense against Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang, two of the Stags’ top trio, to force a winner-take-all showdown this Thursday.

The Stags had to do without Ronald Pascual early in the semifinals after the clutch-shooting veteran tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

“We know San Sebastian will be tough to beat,” said Black. “They’ve just beaten us. We have to do something defensively.”

The Eagles are going for a third straight crown in the tournament only four UAAP teams have ruled since its inception in 2003.

Powered by the trio of Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena and Nico Salva, the Eagles wrapped up their semifinal run by downing back-to-back NCAA champion San Beda, 76-63, last Friday to earn a title crack at the Stags.

Both Ateneo and San Sebastian finished the round-robin Final Four with similar 2-1 records, but the Stags claimed the No. 1 spot, which comes with a twice-to-beat incentive, due to the winner-over-the-other rule.

“We are the defending champions so we really want to win,” said Black. “At the same time, it has been a long season. We’ve been playing since the end of March, so it’s like the light at the end of the tunnel as far this year is concerned.”

source: abs-cbnnews.com

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles will try to make history anew when they go for a third straight championship in the 9th season of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL).

But the Blue Eagles, the reigning champions of the UAAP, will face a hard challenge as they go against the top collegiate squads from all over the country.

Ateneo team captain Bacon Austria admits that they have not practiced together as a team since the end of the UAAP tournament. The Blue Eagles face another challenge as many of their players are participating in the 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.

“Once the SEA Games players return, we have to speed things up to prepare for the PCCL,” Austria said.

Over 200 basketball teams from 33 different leagues participated in this year’s tournament, which is now in its Sweet 16 phase.

By virtue of their being the UAAP champions, the Blue Eagles were given an automatic berth in the PCCL Final Four, along with NCAA champions San Beda Red Lions.

One true champion

PCCL chairman Reynaldo Gamboa says the league was created in order to find a “single national champion” from the numerous mother leagues all over the country.

After the various ‘mother leagues’ crown their own champions over the year, the PCCL then brings the best collegiate teams in one tournament to determine the best college squad in the country.

So far, teams from the UAAP have dominated the league, with the University of the East Red Warriors winning the inaugural tournament in 2003. The Far Eastern University Tamaraws and the De La Salle University Green Archers have also won PCCL titles, but the Blue Eagles are the most successful team, having won the league crown three times.

This year, various teams from other leagues are hoping to make a breakthrough, with NCAA champion San Beda and runner-up San Sebastian expected to have a strong showing in the tournament.

New format

The league decided to change the tournament’s format this year in order to give local teams more exposure against tougher competitions, as more teams from various provinces participated in the tournament.

The other members of the UAAP and NCAA Final 4 were given automatic Sweet 16 berths, along with the top two teams from the CESAFI, the top collegiate league in Cebu.

Other teams from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao then competed for the last six Sweet 16 slots. The National University Bulldogs, the De La Salle Green Archers, the University of Northern Philippines Sharks and the University of Batangas Brahmans have already qualified to the Sweet 16.

The Visayas and Mindanao champions are yet to be determined.

This year’s PCCL Sweet 16 is in knockout format, with the winning team advancing each round to face a higher-ranked squad. The last two teams standing after the Sweet 16 clinch Final Four berths.

The Final Four, meanwhile, will use a round robin-format with the top two teams battling for the championship.

The 2011 PCCL Sweet 16 will start on November 19, with the UNP Sharks taking on the NU Bulldogs, and the U of Batangas Brahmans going against the DLSU Green Archers.

All PCCL Sweet 16 games will be televised on Studio 23.