University of the Philippines dropped its third straight match, failing to produce answers in their 17-25, 20-25, 11-25 loss to the University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Tournament yesterday, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

Playing with an injured Justine Sotto, who occasionally entered the match as a defensive specialist, UP was outattacked and outserved throughout the match. They tallied only 23 attacks compared to UST’s 47, and were unable to register a single ace versus UST’s 10. 

UST’s offensive dominance was shown early in the opening frame, cruising to a 16-10 lead. Despite signs of life from Milven Francisco Jr., UP’s first ball made it hard for setter Louise Aballe to set up plays. 

The beginning of the second frame found UP down 10-18 after three consecutive Josh Ybañez service aces. However, after the insertion of captain and setter Gian Samaniego, Kobe Aca-ac, and Brndy Clemente, the Fighting Maroons were able to cut the lead down to three at 20-23. However, UST’s continuous targeting of Tommy Castrodes in their serves made it hard for UP to stay close, eventually losing the set after a Gelo Lipata attack went long. 

By the third set, UST had figured UP out. The Fighting Maroons found themselves down 3-13, and by then, the Golden Tigers had already built too much of a lead to come back. Despite the insertions of open hitter Marlon De Guzman as middle blocker in place of Dan Nicolas, UST was just too much for them. 

Olayemi Raheem led the losing effort with 10 points from nine attacks and a block, Francisco finished with six, Lipata earned four, while Nicolas had three. 

Meanwhile, Ybañez top-scored for UST with 15 points off 12 spikes and three aces, together with 10 receptions. He was assisted by Popoy Colinares’s nine attacks and two aces,  Jay Rack De La Noche’s nine attacks and ace, and JJ Macam’s eight kills and three aces. 

For Samaniego, the Fighting Maroons struggled to execute their game plan, sharing that the team doubted themselves throughout the game. 

As they close their season against the Adamson Soaring Falcons on Sunday, he hopes that the team can go back to point one. The team will review its earlier game against UST, study where they went wrong, and hopefully adjust to end its campaign with a win. 

UST, who registered its fifth straight win to hold solo third at 9-4, will look to secure the third seed when it faces the NU Bulldogs (11-2) on Sunday, 9 AM, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. This will be followed by UP’s game against Adamson at 11 AM. 

All photos from UAAP Media

This UP Fighting Maroons Club post is made in partnership with Jiang Nan Hotpot.