Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

News

UP staves off UE upset for first win


The University of the Philippines Lady Maroons had to recover from a sudden drop in play to avoid a shocking upset at the hands of the University of the East Lady Warriors, 25-19, 25-13, 21-25, 16-25, 15-8, to start their Season 80 campaign at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The new-look Lady Maroons — who played their first UAAP game without Kathy Bersola, Nicole Tiamzon, and Pia Gaiser — had a straight-sets win in hand before crumbling in the third and fourth periods. UP’s fluid play from the start of the match evaporated.

The Lady Maroons lost the last two sets due to errors and faulty reception. They most notably surrendered a 10-0 run fueled by Shaya Adorador’s serving in the fourth set, that buried them in a 13-21 hole.

UP recovered in the decider, racing to an 8-4 advantage and never looking back. UP’s new head coach Godfrey Okumu rued his team’s struggles on reception.

“We really struggled on passing in the third and fourth set. You can see that it was our biggest problem. We’re still working on that. UE really played well also. They worked really hard,” said the Kenyan tactician.

The Lady Maroons finished with 46 errors, comprising more than half of UE 90 total points.

Third-year team captain Tots Carlos led the Lady Maroons with 22 points, while her batchmate Isa Molde added 20 markers.

Libero Kath Arado towed UE’s floor defense with 30 digs and 21 excellent receptions. Judith Abil led the UE offense with 12 markers.

#ReadMore  Hontiveros says VisMin Cup players should not waste opportunity to play

UP (1-0) next face the De La Salle University Lady Spikers (1-0) on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. UE (0-1) will try to recover against the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses (0-1) on Wednesday also at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

The Scores

UP (3) – Carlos 22, Molde 20, Dorog 11, Buitre 7, Ramos 7, Estrañero 4, Basarte 0, Cailing 0, Lim 0, Siao (L), Thai (L)

UE (2) – Abil 12, Mendrez 10, Rodriguez 8, Adorador 7, Baliton 5, Bendong 1, Lopez 1, Manabat 0, Santos 0, Sta. Maria 0, Arado (L)

Written By

Miguel Luis Flores fell face first into sports writing in high sch9l and has never gotten up. He reluctantly stumbled into the volleyball beat when he started with Tiebreaker Times three years ago. Now, he has waded through everything volleyball - from its icky politics to the post-modern art that is Jia Morado's setting.




You May Also Like

News

ILAGAN, ISABELA — PLDT overcame a third-set stumble to defeat Choco Mucho in four sets, 25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 25-17, and seized the top spot...

News

ILAGAN, ISABELA — Farm Fresh notched its first win in the 2025 Premier Volleyball League On Tour, fending off a late fightback by Choco...

News

Short-handed PLDT made quick work of Farm Fresh, spoiling the debut of Italian head coach Alessandro Lodi with a 25-18, 25-21, 28-26 sweep to...

News

BATANGAS CITY — It took Nxled 14 games to collect just two wins in the previous conference. This weekend alone, they’ve already matched that...

News

BATANGAS CITY — Choco Mucho kicked off its 2025 PVL On Tour campaign with a four-set victory over Galeries Tower, 25-19, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20,...

News

Former University of the East boosters Strong Group Athletics, led by chairman Frank Lao, is not turning its back on its former student-athletes. In...

News

University of the East finally addressed the controversy surrounding the sudden disbandment of the core of its UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball team, clarifying...

News

Former interim head coach Allan Mendoza broke his silence Thursday morning, leveling explosive allegations against the University of the East Athletics Department for what...

Advertisement