The University of the Philippines Women’s Volleyball Team (UP WVT) settled for an eighth-place finish at the 2024 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Pre-season Championship after absorbing a 20-25, 22-25, 24-26 straight-set loss against the University of the East (UE) Lady Warriors in the classification match on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The squad dropped two spots lower from their previous standing at the tournament back in 2022, where they ended up in sixth after a 3-1 loss in a classification match against the Ateneo Lady Eagles.
Fielding a novice-laden lineup, the Fighting Maroons’ offense was kickstarted by rookies Kianne Olango and Yesha Noceja as they fired 4 out of UP’s first 7 points, putting the opening set in a 7-all deadlock.
The young core continued to shine for the Diliman-based squad with a kill block from Bienne Bansil igniting a 6-2 UP run to establish a slim 16-14 cushion before the momentum shifted to the Lady Warriors, courtesy of 5 unanswered points that proved enough to snatch the first set away.
The Fighting Maroons fought tooth and nail early in the second chapter as their errors hindered them from pulling away with their 5-3 start, with a misfire from Jenn Gould bringing the score to a 5-5 deadlock.
An off-the-block attack from team captain Nica Celis sparked another 4-0 charge for the Maroon shirts to take a three-point edge, 16-13, halfway through the set.
This lead, however, went for naught as the red and white quickly established control with an 11-3 blitz to step towards set point once again, 20-24. Doering tried to push for extended play with a pair of kills, but UE’s Casiey Dongallo powered it through to send UP a 0-2 set disadvantage.
Facing elimination, the Fighting Maroons picked up momentum late in the final set, as an Olango spike and an error from Dongallo allowed them to reach set point for the first time, 24-23, before Lady Warrior Faye Gajero forced a deuce and took the match shortly afterward.
UP struggled to capitalize on 20 points given off by UE’s errors as they were outmatched in attacking (38-46) and service aces (2-8).
State U senior and UAAP Season 86’s second-best middle blocker Nina Ytang led State U’s offense with 9 points all coming from attacks, while the trio of Cabasac, Olango, and Doering engineered 8 markers each.
Meanwhile, UE’s Faye Gajero notched a game-high 17 points, while Dongallo and Kc Cepeda followed suit with 16 and 14 markers, respectively.
Despite the loss, the Fighting Maroons still have a chance to snag an individual award as Doering remains the league’s top blocker after registering 25 kill blocks across nine games.
