UP Fighting Maroons’ Joan Monares against the UE Lady Warriors in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament. Photo from UAAP Media.
MANILA (UPDATED) — The University of the Philippines is off to a promising start in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball.
This, after the Fighting Maroons outlasted the University of the East, 25-18, 26-24, 24-26, 13-25, 15-13, during their Saturday afternoon faceoff at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“Sa tingin ko, kalmado sila from first to fourth set eh, kaya kami umabot ng five sets,” said UP head coach Benson Bocboc during the postgame presser. ‘’Kung mainit na sana sila, tingin ko nakuha na sana nila ng mas maaga. Nakita natin yung spirit noong fifth set, pero hindi natin yun nakita nung mga naunang sets.”
Joan Monares led the Fighting Maroons with 17 points, 16 of which came from attacks, together with 11 digs, while Kianne Olango and Irah Jaboneta followed with 15 and 12, respectively.
Following two straight-set losses that resulted in the game reaching a fifth one, UP went on a 5-to-zero run to set the tone and put themselves in prime position to win the game.
Joan Monares’ hit midway through the fifth then pushed the Maroons’ lead to six, 8-2, and this was all they needed to eventually open the season in a triumphant manner despite UE’s last surge that allowed them to tie the game at 13, as Nica Celis and Nina Ytang delivered the closing blows.
Before this, after taking care of business in the first two frames, State U found itself only leading 22-21 in the third despite already leading, 20-15, just a few plays earlier, all thanks to a 6-to-2 spurt which was capped off by a back row hit from KC Cepada.
Both squads were then tied at 24 a few sequences later, but UP was not able to seal the sweep due to an attack error from Monares as well as a block by Riza Nogales on the Maroons’ attack.
The Maroons’ woes continued in the fourth set as they committed 11 errors while only putting up 13 points on the board, and the Lady Warriors took advantage of this by sending the game into a decider.
Fortunately for UP, they were able to regain their footing in the last set by charging a 5-to-nothing run to open it, while Celis and Ytang, who scored 11 and two, respectively, stepped up when UE was attempting another comeback.
On the other hand, Cepada shone the brightest for UE with 24 points, Nessa Bangayan followed with 17, Kayce Balingit contributed 12 for her squad, while Ange Reyes scattered 25 digs with 11 receptions.
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