University of the Philippines finally ended a 10-game losing streak to De La Salle University, as Olayemi Raheem led the Fighting Maroons to a four-set victory, 25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, in the UAAP Season 88 Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Tournament at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
Coming off a four-set loss to the Ateneo Blue Eagles, Raheem took it upon himself to lead UP, scoring three points in their 6-3 finisher to seal the hard-fought win after one hour and 47 minutes.
After back-to-back 30-point performances to open the season, the sophomore delivered 29 points this time on 25 spikes, three blocks, and one ace.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“Medyo naging predictable ‘yung atake namin nung third set, tapos La Salle is a very good blocking team as well,” said UP assistant coach Hannah Nagtalon, as head coach Carlo Cabatingan was under the weather.
“So in the fourth set, inaddress talaga namin na kailangan ma-slow down namin ‘yung serve so we can have better control of the pass and distribute the ball much better.”
Prior to today, UP’s last win over the Green Spikers came in the second round of Season 79, a 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 triumph on March 8, 2017.
Tied at 19 in the fourth frame, Tommy Castrodes sparked the Fighting Maroons’ closing run with an off-the-block hit. Then Raheem delivered three straight crosscourt kills followed by a La Salle error to reach match point, 24-19.
La Salle, however, rallied. Eugene Gloria and JJ Rodriguez combined for three unanswered points to narrow the gap to 22-24, but Castrodes came through again to secure the UP victory, improving the Maroons’ record to 2-1.
UP now sits in a tie with National University and University of Santo Tomas for second to fourth place, all with identical 2-1 records.
Middle blocker Milven Francisco contributed 11 points on 9-of-15 attacks to support Raheem, while Abram Robles added nine points. Zairus Pacure also had eight points as UP capitalized on 24 free points from La Salle errors.
UP will look to extend its winning streak when it faces five-time defending champion National University on Saturday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
For La Salle, Cameroonian middle blocker Issa Ousseini led the scoring with 14 points on 12 attacks and two blocks, followed by Rui Ventura with 13 points, including five blocks.
Yoyong Mendoza and Eugene Gloria added 12 points each, but the Green Spikers fell to 0-3 — their worst start since opening UAAP Season 81 (2019) with three straight losses.
La Salle will seek its first win on Sunday against Ateneo de Manila University at the same venue.
