University of the East clinched one of the twice-to-beat advantages in the UAAP Season 86 High School Boys’ Volleyball Final Four following a dominant 25-11, 25-15, 25-7 victory over the also-ran Ateneo on Tuesday at the Adamson Gym in Ermita, Manila.
The win saw the Junior Red Warriors reach 12 wins against a lone defeat, ahead of second-running National University Nazareth School Bullpups’ 11-2 and Far Eastern University-Diliman Baby Tamaraws’ 10-3.
A 6-1 run fuelled the final push from the league leaders that extended the lead to 12, 16-4, in the third and final set. Back-to-back kills from Kenzie Caro and Lance Flestado created the separation.
The two wing spikers also found their targets at the service line to eventually put away the match for good with a huge 19-5 advantage.
“Medyo may sigh of relief; syempre pinaghirapan rin naman ng mga bata, kaya deserved nila ‘yung twice-to-beat advantage,” said assistant coach JC Cuevas, who took charge of this match in place of head coach Raffy Mosuela as the latter was named as the head coach of PVL team Akari.
“Kailangan lang din naming makuha ‘yung last game against NUNS para makuha namin ‘yung top 1, para coming into the semifinals medyo high morale ‘yung mga bata kasi galing sila sa panalo,” he added.
The Junior Red Warriors started a bit slow at the onset of the match with errors plaguing their rhythm. That allowed the Blue Eagles to stay in the game with Ken Nicolas and Jedric Nisperos scoring.
Nonetheless, Andrei Mosuela took control of the squad. With Lance Babon and Karl Reyes doing their job on the pins – and Clarence Gianan and Aaron Ancheta taking care of the net – UE never looked back for that 2 sets-0 lead.
On the other hand, Adamson University remained in the hunt for the fourth and last slot in the postseason with a similar sweep of University of the Philippines Integrated School, 25-15, 25-11, 25-8.
With the stakes at a high, the Baby Falcons leaned on its net defense to stifle a possible run from the Fighting Maroons with middle blockers Tres Nacario and Alfred Florita putting a wall.
JM Navarro and Noah Parungao produced some kills for UPIS, but those were far between and would not bother the already comfortable cushions from Adamson.
“Sabi ko lang sa kanila, kahit anong mangyari d’on sa game ng UST vs NU, gusto ko ‘pag naglaro kami against UP, all out pa rin sila. Gusto ko kasi kahit anong mangyari, manalo man o matalo, matatapos namin ‘yung season namin na maganda,” said Baby Falcons head coach Marvin Ramoso.
“Parang nabigyan pa ng pagkakataon nga na makapasok pa kami. Kaya paghahandaan talaga namin ‘yung FEU. Para sa mga graduating rin na kahit anong mangyari, may maiiwan silang magandang record,” he added.
Taking his cue from his fellow center attackers, Jayve De Guzman pushed Adamson’s lead to 14-2 with a finish off a slide play for his fourth point of the third set and the match.
John Obillo extended the advantage to 21-6 with back-to-back service aces, which were answered by off-the-block spikes from Navarro and Japhet Casabar.
The lead was just too much for UPIS, though. Adamson eventually pocketed the much-needed seventh win.
The win put the Baby Falcons in a tie for the fourth spot with University of Santo Tomas Junior Golden Spikers at 7-6, with results coming for the remaining matches. The Fighting Maroons remained in seventh at 1-12.
The remaining matches saw the Final Four-bound squads of NUNS and FEU-D take care of their respective encounters against UST and De La Salle Zobel for that twice-to-beat bonus against, possibly, each other in the playoffs.
The Bullpups completed a come-from-behind victory against the Junior Golden Spikers, 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-18, to put themselves in a position to vie for the no. 1 spot in the Final Four against the Junior Red Warriors.
Season 85 Best Setter Jeffe Gallego Jr. was solid throughout the one-hour-27-minute-long match to steer NUNS over Jancriz Ayco and the rest of the UST side, especially in those tight sets where momentum shifted back and forth.
Up by just one in the fourth set, 19-18, the Bullpups ended the match with six unanswered points thanks to Kobe Aca-ac’s off-the-block kill and two straight attacks from Matthew Abut.
They also capitalized on the Junior Golden Spikers’ late-game miscues.
The Baby Tamaraws had a relatively easier time in winning past their challengers, the Junior Green Spikers, following a 25-16, 25-11, 25-9 sweep.
Last year’s Best Opposite Hitter Amet Bituin and Kyle Tandoc carried the defending champions on their opportunities at the counterattack.
Meanwhile, Mark Nacor and Season 85 Finals MVP Rhodson Du-ot pummeled the opponents at the service line.
DLSZ and UPIS fell to 4-9 and 1-12 respectively. On the other hand, Ateneo is still searching for a win this season after 13 matches.
