beyond basketball
Our photographer took this picture last UAAP season at the Araneta Coliseum. The Fighting Maroons were watching the Junior Maroons game which came before theirs. From left to right: Josant Cervantes, Nestor David Jr., Toti Almeda, Vicmel Epres, Jacob Manlapaz, and Marvin Cruz
Haaaayyy... we lost in 3 straight sets: 25-15, 25-21, 25-21. After seeing the men's volleyball team win, the women's team's loss is kinda depressing. Oh, well. The DLSU women's volleyball team is pretty strong so I guess, better luck next time na lang for UP. I hope they win their game on August 1. :-)
After the juniors basketball game yesterday, I went back to the office and then straight to the UP Gym for the volleyball games.
The UP Fighting Maroons played their second game of the volleyball season against UE. As expected, they slammed the Recto athletes in 3 straight sets: 25-15, 25-18, 25-14. Woopdeedoo! I'm confident we'll make it to the finals again. :-)
Coming from a not-so-disappointing 2-point loss to UST, the UPIS basketball team faced the Alabang boys in their 3rd game of the season. The DLSZ team was one of the strongest contenders in the junior basketball division last year. As I have mentioned in my previous entries, however, the Junior Maroons have really improved.
The first 2 quarters saw the UPIS contingent match DLSZ's points and led by the end of the first half. During the 3rd quarter, the little lasalistas from the south became more aggressive in their ball-handling. I couldn't believe my eyes. La Salle (as well as Ateneo) are quite known for their premium on sports, specifically basketball. To see their players struggling was really something. It's not like I'm making fun of them or anything, it's just that I was amazed that they made all these unnecessary errors. Well, at the end of that quarter, DLSZ led by 1 point at 40-39.
In the last quarter, I was confident that we were going to win. Sobrang bilib ako sa paglalaro ng Junior Maroons. Ang galing! I think much of this could be attributed to Coach Patrick. Even if his first season with them wasn't spectacular, the team is certainly making up for it this year. Anyway, UPIS won, of course. The final score was 52-47.
P.S.
That Simon Atkins from DLSZ is really cute, in that tisoy kind of way. Wala lang. May older brother kaya siya? Teehee.
Since it was my killer Sunday, I covered the women's basketball game at the AdU Gym, then went to cover the men's and women's volleyball games at the UP Gym, then proceeded to Araneta Coliseum for the seniors basketball match.
It was game 4 for the Fighting Maroons and they faced last season's 1st runner up, the ADMU Blue Eagles. What can I say? UP was off to a pretty good start, considering they were only down by 5 at the end of the 1st quarter. During the second quarter, Blue Eagle Larry Fonacier was injured and his teammates really stepped up their game. A brawl almost broke out between both teams as UP's Josant Cervantes tried to steal the ball from ADMU's Paolo Bugia, who got the offensive rebound. Well, fellow Blue Eagle LA Tenorio tried to join in the scramble and in the flurry, Cervantes accidentally tore Tenorio's jersey. Wawa naman. ;-P Anyhoo, UP trailed with a 13-point deficit at the end of the second quarter.
During the 2nd half, the Fighting Maroons really tried their darnedest to make up for their misses and errors during the first 2 quarters of the game. Unfortunately, they were unable to close the gap and lost their fourth straight game this season at 72-63. Noticeably absent was Head Coach Lito Vergara who was reportedly sick. In my opinion, though, Bong Arroyo is more efficient in player rotation. Since Vergara's absence, UP's performance has been improving. Just an observation.
The second UP volleyball match that same day was in the women's division. The State University volleybelles also played against Adamson.
AdU won the first set at 25-16 but UP regained their composure and went on to win sets 2 and 3 at 25-18 and 25-16 respectively. UP needed only one more set to claim victory. The volleybelles, however, slumped during the fourth set and AdU won with a score of 25-6. It was a dismal performance and I still cannot understand why anyone would jeopardize a chance for the win. I mean, why did they slack off during what could have been the last set? But no, they tied with AdU at two sets apiece. And so came the deciding fifth set. Thank god, UP won the race to fifteen with a six-point deficit against AdU.
The Lady Maroons are out to prove they can go into the finals again. In their second game at the AdU Gym last July 25, the UP women cagers tamed the ballers from the royal, pontifical, catholic university (hehe, couldn't resist writing that) at 61-55. Top scorer for UP is Jaclyn Marie Cruz with 20 points. Followed by Joan Roma with 11 and Ma. Ana Tolentino with 10.
Their next game is on August 1. Another shot at the finals coming up!
The UP men's volleyball team is still a pretty strong contender for the championsip. Even with the departure of Jarrod Hubalde and Paolo Herras, their performance is still pretty commendable. This year's captain ball is Jerrico Hubalde, brother of Jarrod, cousin of Derrick and Paolo Hubalde (Derrick was part of the UST men's basketball team while Paolo is playing his last basketball season with the UE Red Warriors).
UP's first game of the season was against Adamson University last July 25 at the UP Gym. We won three straight sets: 25-21, 25-17, 25-17.
Some courtside chika during the July 22 match at the Araneta Coliseum:
1. During the 1st quarter, Christian Luanzon of UST complained to the referee that he was "punched" by Fighting Maroon Aby Santos. Of course, the referee didn't rely on Luanzon's word. As a rule, if they don't see it, they don't call it.
2. During the 4th quarter naman, UP's Ira Buyco ran towards UST's Jun Cortez and tried to steal the ball before it got to the Tigers' court. Nagkabanggaan sila sa gitna at harap pa ng mga officials. Buyco looked fine but this Cortez person really displayed an award-winning performance, lying on the floor and clutching his stomach. Like his teammate, Luanzon, Cortez told the referee that he was punched in the side by a Fighting Maroon. Sheesh! The funny thing was, the ref said, "Nagkabanggaan lang kayo eh. Wala akong nakitang iba." Enough with the drama, please!
3. Despite my being a true-blue (or should that be maroon?) UP supporter, I can't help but say that these Growling Tigers are such cuties: Christian Luanzon, Loureck Tong, and Chester Taylor.
That's about it.
This post is actually long overdue and all the ideas I had when the game just finished have gone down the drain. Forgive the lack of enthusiasm and emotion. Hehehe.
I thought we were going to win. After our strong performance against the defending champions, I had a strong feeling that victory was in the bag for UP. I was wrong. But not disappointed, though. We only lost by two points, 61-59. Even Coach Patrick Aquino was pleased with the team's game at the Araneta Coliseum last July 22.
I should have thought of this earlier. My personal blog is currently cluttered with UAAP posts and that's the reason why I decided to create this one. The succeeding entries are just links because I don't want to copy-paste my previous entries in tamadita about the UAAP games. Classic example of my being tamad. Hehehe.
