UNIVERSITY of the East’s rebuild season ended with a win over cellar-dwelling University of the Philippines, 23-25, 25-17, 27-25, 25-22, in the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Super rookie Casiey Dongallo capped a trying yet progressive campaign for the Lady Warriors with 28 points built on 25 attacks, two blocks and one ace to become the league's provisional scoring leader with 291 total points.
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At 3-11 (win-loss), UE has hit the three-win mark in women’s volleyball for the first time since Season 81 in 2019 when it also finished in seventh place.
UP, meanwhile, ended a second straight UAAP season with just one win in 14 elimination round matches which also happened to be a first-round victory versus UE.
"It’s a big show of effort that UE can move. Despite the disappointing losses, we still did something good and that is a big accomplishment. So we’re gonna take this as a springboard to get us into the preseason that’s coming up and UAAP Season 87," said UE interim head coach Obet Vital.
"You guys mentioned (Jelai) Gajero getting hurt. We have Gajero coming back, we have some (California Academy) players that are coming in also and then other recruits from the South and other areas. We look forward to continuing the effort and work toward an even better success," he added.
Despite a late slip-up in the opening frame, the Lady Warriors' 62 total attacks proved too much for the also-ran Fighting Maroons with Dongallo taking the lion's share of UE's offense with 25 on top of nine excellent digs.
Riza Nogales' towering two-way presence aided UE's winning cause, firing 17 markers built on 14 attacks, two blocks and one ace as Kizzie Madriaga orchestrated a strong end to a breakthrough season with 12 excellent sets.
Meanwhile, a pair of 15-point outings from Steph Bustrillo and Irah Jaboneta paced UP's season-ending defeat, marking a tough end to Oliver Almadro's first year in charge as concurrent head coach and program director for the Fighting Maroons.
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