Games on Wednesday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
9 a.m. – UST vs Ateneo (Men)
11 a.m. – DLSU vs UP (Men)
1 p.m. – UST vs Ateneo (Women)
3 p.m. – DLSU vs UP (Women)
THE souped-up University of the Philippines (UP) rose from the ashes to remain immaculate, ending an eight-year drought against Ateneo de Manila University with a 17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 16-14 reverse sweep within the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament on Sunday on the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Fighting Maroons, who last won against the Blue Eagles in 2018, finally scored one on their Katipunan rivals because of a gutsy resolve from 0-2 down and within the prolonged decider.
UP, under recent coach Fabio Menta of Italy, climbed to 2-0 as one among the early league leaders alongside the mighty and three-peat searching for National University (NU) (3-0).
It’s the primary back-to-back wins for the Diliman-based spikers since 2022, ending an 11-game losing skid against Ateneo in the method.
Veteran middle blocker Niña Ytang led the best way with 15 points on 11 hits, an ace and three blocks, including the clinching swat on Zey Pacia within the back-and-fourth fifth set.
Irah Jaboneta battled cramps and added 14 points while Nigerian spiker Fina Ali had 13 points highlighted by a thunderous crosscourt hit to interrupt deuce and propel UP to match point, 15-14.
“Finally, we found a method to play our own game,” said Mr. Menta, a former mentor of the defunct pro volleyball team Foton.
“We were worrying an excessive amount of about what was happening on the opposite side so once we found that sort of rhythm, that sort of game that we like more. We became more practical from there.”
Like diesel, the Fighting Maroons indeed needed some time to heat up despite a rousing opening win against the University of the East Lady Warriors, 25-12, 25-9, 21-25, 25-19.
After surrendering the primary two sets, UP finally got somewhat going with a gritty third-set win that just snowballed to an 18-9 lead within the fourth to force a rubber match albeit not with out a scratch after Ateneo clawed back to tie things up at 23-all.
Two consecutive errors by the Blue Eagles then paved the method to a fifth set, where the Fighting Maroons proved to be the steadier team.
A 12 months after her ACL injury, JLo Delos Santos fired 21 while young guns Ana Hermosura and Donna de Leon chipped in 19 and 15 points, respectively, but Ateneo still remained winless in two matches after a debut defeat to Adamson University.
In the boys’s side, University of Santo Tomas avenged its straight-sets debut against five-peat champion NU with a 25-23, 25-22, 15-25, 25-19 win over La Salle for its first win.
Ateneo then beat UP 4 sets in the primary game, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18, to create a three-way tie at 1-1 with Santo Tomas and UP. — John Bryan Ulanday