UNIVERSITY of the Philippines dedicated its title in the Philippine Super Liga Collegiate Grand Slam to their slain benefactor, Dominic Sytin.
The Diliman-based squad, which dug itself out of a 2-8, deficit in the fourth set, completed a come-from-behind win over University of Santo Tomas, 25-21, 16-25, 25-23, 25-19, on Thursday at The Arena in San Juan.
After the game, the Lady Maroons received stickers with a hashtag #JUSTICEFORDOM printed on it and team captain Tots Carlos put it on during the post-game interview.
“Every game is for him, every training is for him. Grabe, sobrang laki ng tulong ni Tito Dom sa amin, sa team,” said Carlos. “So ‘yung championship na ‘to pinilit talaga namin kunin.”
“And ‘yun nga, sabi ni coach [Godfrey Okumu], the motto today is fight,” she added. “’Yun naman ang laging sinasabi ni Tito Dom eh, kahit matalo pero lumalaban. So with the fight that we did today, good results naman.”
UP captured its second title in the off-season, after winning in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference.
“We are happy we are able to achieve what we have achieved today, not only for us, for the community as well and our late sponsor, Sir Dominic,” said UP coach Godfrey Okumu.
“I hope wherever he is now he is cheering on and he is happy, he’s looking down with a smile,” he added.
Sytin, who was the founder and CEO of United Auctioneers Inc. founder, was shot dead last month in Subic.