Blue Eagles take Game 1

Games Saturday (The Arena, San Juan City) 10 a.m. – UST vs NU (for third, men’s) 1 p.m. – Ateneo vs FEU (men’s finals) 4 p.m. – Arellano vs Adamson (for third, women’s) Presentation of Awards 6:30 p.m. – NU vs FEU (women’s finals)

Ateneo overcame a slow start before getting into groove in beating Far Eastern University, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19, yesterday in the opener of the men’s finals in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Blue Eagles recovered from 1310 and 20-19 deficits with reigning MVP Marck Espejo and Gian Carlo Glorioso at the center of their attack to draw first blood in the best-of-three championship series.

Another win for Ateneo on Saturday will earn them their third consecutive title.

Glorioso and Espejo pumped in 15 and 14 points, respectively, while teaming up for 22 of the team’s 44 attack points as the Eagles matched the Tamaraws aggressiveness before launching their own assault in the last two frames.

“Yung energy ng FEU, yun ang bread and butter talaga nila. They live and die with their energy so, I just told my players to level up to their intensity,” said Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro, whose team survived University of Santo Tomas in the best-of-three semifinals, 2-1.

FEU briefly rose to the challenge in the third set after back-to-back errors by Ateneo gave them a 13-11 lead. But the Eagles were quick to adjust as they drained five straight points to get the