DENIED of a title sweep the last time, University of Batangas made sure there would be no more heartbreak after pulling off a tense 29-31, 25-16, 25-20, 21-25, 17-15 win over Immaculada Concepcion College in their sudden death to keep its men’s title in the 2025 PG Flex-UCAL Season 8 Volleyball Tournament at the Paco Arena in Manila.
The UB Brahmans teetered on the brink of collapse after allowing the ICC Blue Hawks to launch another series of vicious attacks in the fourth set that forced a deciding fifth frame.
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Like the opening set, the fifth was also exhilarating but it was the power-hitting Prince Ramirez and the Brahmans who made the biggest plays when the game reached crunch time.
UB won the event last year via an 11-game sweep but was prevented by ICC from duplicating the feat this season. Still, it was an incredible year after finishing with a 10-1 record.
Ramirez, who engaged ICC’s Mark Nacor and Aron Devosora in fiery exchange of attacks, was the Man of the Match for UB with 20 points on 19 attacks and a block.
He was ably supported by Adlrin Rosales who produced 17 points off 13 attacks, 3 blocks and an ace in the event backed by Akari, Advance Solutions Inc., Smart Sports, Spalding, Team Rebel Sports, Quintana Sports, Crane Faucet, Hapee Toothpaste, Jiang Nan Restaurant, Vital, TopFlite Academy, Maruyama, and Gerry’s Grill.
Both Nacor and Devesora had 19 points.
UB’s title win denied ICC of a golden sweep after the Lady Blue Hawks also extended their reign to two years via 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 25-20 win over the Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas Lady Dolphins on Nov. 27.
The Brahmans won the opening of their best-of-three series, 25-20, 25-18, 25-20, but the Brahmans rebounded in Game 2 with a 25-22, 14-25, 25-27, 26-24, 15-11victory to force a sudden death.
Tournament director Horacio Lim said the league takes break starting this week and competition resumes early February with a basketball tournament.
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