The University of the Philippines Men’s Volleyball Team (UP MVT) has endured back-to-back losses this season after struggling to sustain momentum against their Katipunan neighbors, the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 25-23, 18-25, 22-25,19-25, last Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.
Maroon mainstay Angelo Lagando paced the Maroon shirts with 14 points from 13 attacks and an ace, while foreign student-athlete Olayemi Raheem and middle blocker Daniel Nicolas chipped in 11 points each in the loss.
Despite falling to a 1-2 record, the 6-foot-2 spiker expressed his satisfaction with his performance during the match and after a swag fest against the Blue Eagles’ frontrunner, Kennedy Batas.
“Yung game namin kanina, siyempre sobrang saya ko, and kasi ‘yung ganung rotation namin bago lang ‘yun, as in talagang hindi pa siya ganun ka-polished. Kaya sobrang saya ko kanina na naging ganun ‘yung performance ko,” Lagando said in a post-game interview with Tinig ng Plaridel (TNP).
After a successful opening set win, the Fighting Maroons’ momentum faltered after a barrage of attacks from the Ateneo side. Lagando managed to save one set point at 18-24 in the second set, but a misfire from Raheem at the service line ultimately put the Maroons on the wrong end of the stick.
While UP capitalized on 37 points from Ateneo’s errors, they were still outscored by the Blue shirts’ offensive performance, with Ateneo registering 60 points from attacks compared to UP’s 36.
On Feb. 19, the UP MVT absorbed its first loss of the season in a sweep at the hands of last season’s second runners-up, FEU Tamaraws, 21-25, 16-25, 18-25.
Nicolas shared that the team struggled to recover from their previous loss against the FEU Tamaraws, which led to another defeat against the Blue Eagles.
“Siguro since malakas ‘yung makakalaban namin next [game of the] season, [we will focus on] how we can recover sa mga lapses namin, sa mga pagkakamali. Kasi medyo mabagal ‘yung recovery namin pagdating [sa kung] paano kami makakabawi agad [mula sa mga] hard situation,” the Bulakenyo player said to TNP.
The Maroon blocker ensured that the Diliman-based squad remains positive as they continue to focus on improving key areas of their gameplay.
“Siguro umpisahan namin sa pag-prepare namin sa skills namin kasi lumalabas ‘yung weaknesses namin sa skill, and ‘yung team effort and siguro ‘yung ‘yun na nga confidence ng bawat isa kasi hindi pwedeng isa o dalawa lang ‘yung nagle-leap o ‘yung gusto lang manalo sa court,” Nicolas added.
Meanwhile, Lagando emphasized the importance of honing their executions in line with the team’s mindset, adding, ”[S]abi sa’min ni coach, more on skill na lang ‘yung kailangan namin i-polish since andun na ‘yung mindset namin.”
Assured of an almost week-long break, the Maroon veteran and the rest of the Fighting Maroons are determined to keep the grind going in tuning their offense.
“Talagang magfo-focus kami kung paano namin papatayin ‘yung mga binibigay sa aming bola, […] andun na ‘yung skills, ‘yung tamang execution na lang ng bola ’yung kailangan namin gawin,” shared Lagando.
The UP MVT will aim to recover from their losses before facing last season’s semi-finalists De La Salle Green Spikers on Mar. 2, at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.
MVT SET SCORES: 25-23, 18-25, 22-25,19-25
