UAAP SEASON 87
UP clinches fourth in UAAP Men’s Beach Volleyball, settles for fifth in Women’s Tournament

The UP Men’s Beach Volleyball Team, composed of Christian Pitogo, Angelo Lipata, and Jonathan Delos Santos, ended their UAAP Season 87 in fourth place, after falling to first seed University of Santo Tomas in the semifinals and Far Eastern University in the battle for bronze on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at the Sands SM by the Bay, Pasay City.
The tandem of Lipata and Pitogo booked their ticket to the Final Four on Sunday, November 24, by dispatching DLSU in a thrilling three-setter, 21-11, 18-21, 15-9, ending the eliminations with a 4-3 record. This marked their return to the Men’s Final Four, an improvement on their previous outings.
Despite a strong start in their Final Four match against the UST Tiger Sands’ Dominique Gabito and Alche Gupiteo, the duo would succumb to the eventual champions in straight sets, 21-15, 21-12.
NU would then brush off FEU in the next game, 22-20, 21-16, to set the stage for the bronze medal match.
Pitogo and Lipata had a good start to their fight for third, leading by as many as five points, 6-1, in the first set and sticking close to the Tamaraws until the end, where they lost by two, 21-19. However, they would lose their momentum in the second set and commit a series of costly errors, eventually yielding to FEU, 21-13, and falling just short of a podium finish.
Regardless of how their season ended, the UPMBVT maintained that being able to reach the Final Four is their achievement as teammates, considering the fact that they only began playing together in the previous season.
“As a whole, we can say that this season is in a state na mag-rereap ng results kase pinaghirapan namin ‘to. These past few years na hindi kami nakapaglaro, nag ensayo kami nang nag ensayo hanggang nakarating kami sa punto na ito,” expressed Pitogo in an interview. “We’re not done yet. We have a lot of goals pa together, and may playing years pa kami, and we’re going to do all this para sa UP.”
Meanwhile, the UP Women’s Beach Volleyball Team, composed of Euricka Eslapor, Julia de Leon, and Kryssia Ornos, fell short of a Final Four slot and ended their season tied with the Ateneo Blue Eagles in fifth with a record of 2-5. This was also the end of Eslapor’s collegiate career.
“Right from the beginning of my career here in [the] UAAP […] [the UP community] was very welcoming. Thank you sa pagtanggap sa akin, it’s such an honor to fight for [the] UP Fighting Maroons. Maraming salamat sa pagmamahal at sa suporta,” Eslapor stated in an interview.
Honey Cordero and Kat Epa of the NU Lady Bulldogs would eventually claim their first title in the women’s division, denying defending champions UST of a 10th crown. UST would still remain triumphant as their men’s team ousted NU, carrying the squad to a six-peat without dropping a set.