By: Justine Anne Gaerlan
University of the East picked up its first win of the UAAP Season 87 High School Boys’ Volleyball Tournament, sweeping De La Salle-Zobel, 25-12, 25-18, 25-18, on Wednesday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
After a challenging start in their opening match against the University of Santo Tomas Junior Golden Spikers that saw them fall in four sets 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, last season’s silver medalists are starting to find their rhythm, despite adjusting to the loss of key Warriors like JJ Macam.
“Talagang malaking bagay ‘yung nawala sa amin na mga players, pero sa ngayon, ang [sinabi] namin sa mga players, players do come and go,” said UE head coach Herbert Dizon, who took over from Raffy Mosuela during the off-season.
“So starting this year, we expect that may mawawala at may darating. Hindi na dapat kami nag-ba-back to zero. Kailangan continuous ‘yung training namin para sa future games at future lineup namin,” he said.
Dizon also acknowledged the challenge of preparing the Junior Warriors on short notice.
“Pinaghandaan namin ‘to for a short period of time kasi expected namin ‘yung original game schedule. Pero napaaga tayo ngayon, so almost two months lang ang preparation namin. So far naman napag-usapan namin ng team na try lang namin laruin game per game para hindi mabigla,” he added.
The Junior Warriors, already up two sets to none, maintained their momentum into the third set, quickly taking control with an early 10-4 lead, sparked by three consecutive kills from Gian Flestado.
DLSZ struggled to find their footing on offense, and UE capitalized on a series of attacks led by Christian Antonio, extending their lead to 20-13.
Despite a few late-game errors, the Junior Warriors prevented a comeback attempt by the Junior Spikers, sealing the win with an off-the-block kill from Lorenzo Fernandez to close the match.
Antonio led the charge with 13 points, converting 10 of his 20 attacks with seven digs.
Team captain Lance Babon and Flestado added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Mewin Capeña scored six points for DLSZ.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Meanwhile, Adamson University raised its slate to 2-0 after sweeping Ateneo de Manila University, 25-10, 25-14, 25-14.
Jims Ducusin delivered another impressive performance, scoring 12 points off 11 attacks.
The Grade 12 spiker from Zambales was supported by Neil Tobias, who contributed 11 points, and Brice Malinao, who chipped in nine.
Ateneo’s Ethan Rivera and Ken Nicolas led their team with four points each, but it wasn’t enough to counter Adamson’s dominant play.
DLSZ also stands at 1-1 following the defeat, and Ateneo remains winless at 0-2.
