Coach says hot Eagles still ‘work in progress’

MANILA, Philippines —  Ateneo leads the eight-team field in the halfway mark of the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference  men’s elims with a sweep of its first four games but coach Oliver Almadro remains far from being satisfied.

Noting how the league primes them up for the UAAP wars where they are seeking a fourth straight plum, Almadro said there’s still much work to be done especially with key losses in Rex Intal and Josh Villanueva due to graduation.

Antony Koyfman, meanwhile, is on probation due to health and academic reasons.

“For me, it’s not a barometer that we don’t have any loss. What’s important is what we are doing right every game. We are still looking for the right combinations, the right play and my players are still working on strengthening their cohesiveness as we lost a few players,” said Almadro.

“This is a stepping stone for the UAAP. We are still slow in progress but slow progress is still progress. Every game, we have to improve a lot.”

The Blue Eagles, leaning on best scoring race leader Marck Espejo, setter Ish Polvorosa and libero Manuel Sumanguid III, trounced Far Eastern University, San Beda, University of Santo Tomas, and most recently, College of Saint Benilde last Wednesday, to remain the sole unbeaten team in the league and stay ahead of closest pursuer Far Eastern University (3-1) and third- and fourth-running UST and La Salle (tied at 2-2).

“I guess our strength is that we focused on our consistency with the fundamentals. Because power, strength, those will come. But we have to focus on the fundamentals on both offense and defense and to be mature in decision-making,” said Almadro, who also wants his squad to work on their blocking and digging.