University of the East swept defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman, 25-20, 25-22, 29-27, to open the UAAP Season 86 Boys’ Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at the Adamson University Gym.
The first set was a close contest, with both teams unable to mount a scoring run of over three points until UE established a five-point lead late in the set, which was enough to fend off a late comeback from the Baby Tamaraws and take the opening frame.
The second set began with a back-and-forth affair until the Junior Warriors extended their lead to seven at 18-11. The Baby Tamaraws then went on a 5-0 run to climb back to within two.
Both teams traded blows in the latter part of the set until the Junior Warriors scored back-to-back points to claim the set, 25-22.
FEU got off to a great start in the third frame after a 7-2 run gave them a three-point lead early in the set.
However, Season 85 2nd Best Spiker Jan Macam and the Junior Warriors responded with timely attacks, eventually fighting back to tie the score at 16.
The final set was a tight battle until UE capitalized on a three-point run to seal the victory.
“Sabi ko nga sa mga bata, mahirap maglaro o kunin ang panalo kung hindi namin tatrabahuhin. Sabi ko nga, defending champion yan at medyo matibay pagdating sa paglalaro ng volleyball… pero sabi ko nga, hindi imposible kung gagawin niyo ‘yung dapat natin trabahuhin,” said Juniors Warriors head coach Raffy Monsuela.
Meanwhile, Ateneo de Manila University, along with returning coach Babes Castillo, made an impressive UAAP Girls’ Volleyball debut with a four-set win over the University of the Philippines Integrated School, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 26-24.
“Like what I told my players, our duty, our obligation is to do all the right things. Do everything completely, do everything intently and mindfully, and God will take care of the rest. And that’s what they did today. ‘Yun lang ang aming battlecry,” shared Blue Eagles head coach Babes Castillo.
Moving forward, Castillo hopes to build the confidence of the Blue Eagles as the season progresses.
“Well, we want to improve on so many things. Today, we worked on our serves being more offensive and more tactical. It came out,” the architect of the National University-Nazareth School continued.
“Dito naman, we wanted to attack more sana. Medyo tentative pa sila so we wanted to work on that. But most importantly is for them to really gain confidence through work because I believe talaga that’s real confidence. Once na nagtatrabaho ka, then you gain your abilities, the true confidence will come out, and that’s what we wanna work on.”
Earlier in the day, UAAP Season 85 Boys’ Volleyball runner-up Adamson University took down De La Salle-Zobel with a dominant 25-8, 25-8, 25-7 sweep.
