University of the East overcame a fourth-set collapse to end the streak of league-leading University of Santo Tomas in a five-set thriller, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-11, during the UAAP Season 87 High School Boys’ Volleyball tournament on Wednesday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
With the win, the Junior Red Warriors improved to 6-2.
They are now within a win of both the Junior Golden Spikers and the National University Nazareth School Bullpups – who defeated Adamson University in straight sets, 25-22, 25-11, 25-15 – with identical 7-1 records.
“Kailangan naming makabawi ng second round. Kasi nung first game namin against UST, nabigla kami. And nung last game naman, umabot ng deciding, pero hindi kami naging lucky at that game,” said UE head coach Herbert Dizon, who took over for Raffy Mosuela.
UE, runners-up in UAAP Season 86, avenged their opening day loss to UST on September 14, where they fell 20-25, 17-25, 25-22, 23-25.
This time, team captain Lance Babon led the charge.
Holding onto a slim one-point lead in the final set, the Junior Warriors found breathing room after Babon delivered back-to-back kills, extending the gap to 11-8 and forcing UST head coach Clarence Esteban to call a timeout.
The tense battle between UST’s John Paul Bautista and UE’s Babon continued, but three straight kills from Christian Antonio sealed the win for UE, sending the Recto-based squad into celebration.
“This second round, ang target namin is game-by-game na lang. Hindi muna ‘yung buong second round; hindi muna ‘yung top four,” Dizon added, emphasizing the team’s focus on taking it one match at a time.
Antonio was the standout of the match, posting a game-high 25 points, including 22 kills and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Babon and Lance Gian Flestado contributed 16 and 14 markers, respectively.
Julian Marcus Dulay also outplayed his counterpart, registering 27 excellent sets compared to Jeff Abalos’ 21 for UST.
UST’s Paolo Medino put up a strong fight with 23 points, many of which fueled their fourth-set comeback to force a decider.
Bautista and Sean Cruz also chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively, but it wasn’t enough to secure the win.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
On the other hand, aces from Kalel Ronquillo and back-to-back kills from Yuan Mendoza helped NUNS cruise to victory.
Matthew Abut led the Bullpups with 14 points, including 11 attacks and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Ronquillo contributed six points, five of which came from aces, and added 13 excellent sets.
Adamson’s 25 errors, especially in the third set, proved costly as they fell to 4-4.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Far Eastern University-Diliman joined Adamson in the race for the Final Four with a dominant 25-20, 25-10, 25-12 win over Ateneo.
Eldrielle Manlapaz led the Baby Tamaraws with 11 points in just two sets, while captain Zedrick Calimlim added 10 markers.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
In the other game, De La Salle Zobel claimed their third win of the season by defeating University of the Philippines Integrated School in straight sets, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.
Mario Roxas starred for the Junior Green Spikers with 19 points from 17 attacks and two blocks, while Jake Sandrino added seven points and Luis Papa anchored the defense with 15 excellent digs.
The win improved DLSZ’s record to 3-5, Ateneo dropped to 1-7, while UPIS remained winless at 0-8.
