University of the Philippines dropped their final elimination round match against the feisty Adamson University, 13-25, 21-25, 18-25, in the UAAP Season 87 Women’s Volleyball Tournament, Sunday afternoon at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. 

With this defeat, the Fighting Maroons ended their Season 87 campaign at sixth place with a 6-8 record, two places higher than their 8th place finish last year, where they only won one game. Though the Lady Falcons had an identical 6-8 record with UP, they finished the season in 5th place due to their superior 20 match points compared to the latter’s 15.

Adamson had a dominant first set against UP, limiting the Fighting Maroons to only six attack points versus the Lady Falcons’ 16.  This, on top of Adamson’s 3 aces and 2 kill blocks, versus the lone block point of UP from team captain Nica Celis. Adamson gave away six freebies during the first set, compared to UP’s only four unforced errors, with one of those errors proving costly, as a service error from Celis ended the set in favor of the Falcons.

Following their rousing start in the first set, the Lady Falcons continued their pace, and had an early 15-4 lead in the second set, before the Fighting Maroons mustered an 8-0 run to bring the game closer to 12-15.  The run started with an emphatic block from Kassy Doering, combined with the efforts of Denise Lauchengco, Jaz Manguilimotan, and Kianne Olango. Adamson’s Red Bascon halted the run, which sent her team to the technical timeout ahead at 16-12.  From that point on, UP and Adamson exchanged points after the other, with the Lady Falcons ultimately winning the set via a kill from Shaina Nitura.

The Lady Falcons once again had an energetic start in the third set, leading at 5-0, but the Fighting Maroons went on a 7-1 run to take over the lead for the first time in the match at 7-6, and once again at 16-15 after a Niña Ytang kill block.  Adamson then surged ahead with five unanswered points, courtesy of two attacks from Mayang Nuique, and three unforced errors from UP, to grab a four-point lead, 20-16, and staged another 5-2 run to finally seal the win for their squad.  During this stretch, UP scored their points from two service errors from Adamson, but ironically, a service error from Yesha Noceja gave Adamson the match. 

Rookie sensation Nitura, who broke multiple records in the UAAP, finished the game with 22 points from 18 attacks, two kill blocks, and two service aces.  She wrapped up the season with a total of 371 points, the most by a single player in both the men’s and women’s divisions of UAAP volleyball history.  Graduating senior Nuique, meanwhile, was the second-best scorer with 13 points, all from attacks, while their foreign student athlete Frances Mordi tallied 11 points from 10 attacks and one kill block.

Rookie opposite hitter Kianne Olango was UP’s top scorer with seven points from five attacks, one kill block, and one service ace,  while also contributing 10 digs.  Irah Jaboneta followed with 6 points from 5 attacks and a service ace, and had 7 digs and 8 receptions.  One and done foreign student athlete Kassy Doering played her final game in the maroon jersey with five points from four attacks and one kill block. Best middle blocker candidate Niña Ytang, who still has 1 more year of eligibility left, chipped in four points from three attacks and one kill block, and graduating team captain Celis, who also played her final UAAP game, had one block point. 

While the return of seniors Niña Ytang, Irah Jaboneta, and Joan Monares is still up in the air, the UP squad will be bolstered next season with new recruits, led by UE standouts Casiey Dongallo, Kizzie Madriaga, Jelai Gajero, Shamel Fernandez, and Jenalyn Umayam, who are all eligible to play in UAAP Season 88. 

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