ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Collegiate devider Tamaraws stay unblemished; Bulldogs secure solo second

Tamaraws stay unblemished; Bulldogs secure solo second

Published Mar 4, 2026 02:12 pm

At A Glance

  • Far Eastern University shrugged off a shaky start to extend its perfect run after holding off Ateneo, 23-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-19, for its fifth consecutive win in the UAAP Season 88 men's volleyball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday, March 4.
Mikko Espartero stars for FEU. (UAAP Media)
Mikko Espartero stars for FEU. (UAAP Media)
Far Eastern University shrugged off a shaky start to extend its perfect run after holding off Ateneo, 23-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-19, for its fifth consecutive win in the UAAP Season 88 men’s volleyball tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday, March 4.
The Tamaraws overcame their sluggish opener with a thrilling second-set escape to edge the Blue Eagles and turned a tight battle into a lopsided contest to stay unblemished in five games.
Mikko Espartero dazzled after listing 21 points off 19 attacks and two blocks along with three excellent digs and 20 excellent receptions to keep FEU on the peak with a 5-0 tally. Ateneo, on the other hand, dropped to 2-3 at fourth.
“‘Yong first set, talagang test of each team ‘yan doon sa power, speed, and thinking, baka kinailangan lang namin mag-pause, bumalik ng mas buo noong second set,” said FEU head coach Eddieson Orcullo. ‘Yong ginagawa namin na pag-focus, dapat huwag namin kalimutan yung why ng bawat isa at ng team namin.”
Aside from the power-hitting Espartero, Lirick Mendoza and Dryx Saavedra delivered the goods for the Tamaraws with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Charles Absin and Amet Bituin combined for 20 points.
As expected, Ariel Cacao displayed his superb playmaking with 30 excellent sets that went with three points for FEU, which gets back in action Sunday, March 8 at the Big Dome, against University of the Philippines.
Emmanuel Okeke towed Ateneo with 18 points and 19 excellent receptions, while Jian Salarzon and Rodje Alejos posted 12 points apiece for the Katipunan-based squad, whose next assignment would be the reigning champion National University also Sunday.
Meanwhile, reigning champion NU hardly broke a sweat and swept University of the East in three sets, 25-20, 25-13, 25-20, for a solo second in the standings.
The six-peat seeking Bulldogs, who leaned once more on their triumvirate in Leo Ordiales, Jade Disquitado, and Buds Buddin, flexed their might and dismantled the Red Warriors on both ends, especially in the second set, closing out the one-side affair in just one hour and four minutes.
After also coming off a three-set victory over UP, NU improved to 4-1 at second, while UE dropped to 1-4 at seventh place.
Ordiales steered the Bulldogs with 14 points off 11 attacks and three blocks, Buddin chipped in 11 points. Disquitado, for his part, scored 11 points on top three digs and 15 receptions.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.