S87 Men's Volleyball: UP ends season with a bang in 5-set reverse sweep of Adamson

UAAP Season 87 Men's Volleyball Tournament Team Standings
**FEU           13    1
**NU              12    2
*UST             9    5
*DLSU          9    5
Ateneo        7    7
UP               4    10
AdU            2     12
UE               0    14

*Final Four
*Twice-to-beat

ROOKIE Tommy Castrodes showed nerves of steel against his high school alma mater, towing University of the Philippines to a thrilling reverse sweep against Adamson University, 21-25, 19-25, 25-11, 25-12, 15-12, to end its UAAP Season 87 Men’s Volleyball Tournament campaign on a strong note, Sunday afternoon, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

With the come-from-behind triumph, the Fighting Maroons finished the season with a 4-10 card -- a two-win improvement from a 2-12 slate they posted in Season 86.

“Ever since nalaman namin na the season is done for us, ang ginawa naming mindset ay itong season ang magiging base namin going into the next season. Marami kaming tinry, marami kaming sinubukan, but there are all trials kasi there’s nothing to lose but more to gain kung gagawin namin,” first-year UP head coach Carlo Cabatingan said.

("Ever since we found out that the season was over for us, we made it our mindset that this season would be our foundation going into the next one. We tried a lot of things, we experimented with a lot, but these were all trials because there was nothing to lose and more to gain if we did them.")

The win also allowed the Fighting Maroons to complete an elimination round sweep of the Falcons after winning via four sets in their first-round encounter last March 16.

After dominating the third and fourth frames, the Fighting Maroons’ resilience was highly tested in the fifth set as a service error by Nigerian wing spiker Olayemi Raheem and a quick hit from Leo Coguimbal gave Adamson an early 8-6 lead in the decider.

However, the Fighting Maroons found timely relief through Castrodes, who converted two straight hits to complete UP’s 6-1 run and build a 12-9 cushion.

The Soaring Falcons remained in striking distance as a Castrodes antenna touch and a Fighting Maroons overreaching error trimmed the deficit to 13-11, but Raheem finished what Castrodes started, converting two consecutive attacks to annex UP’s fourth and final win in Season 87.

“Yung minindset ko lang doon ay every point dapat I should make it count. Dapat i-seize ko lang yung moment,” Castrodes said, who provided 16 points on 15 attacks with 13 excellent receptions and eight excellent digs to wrap up his rookie stint with the Fighting Maroons.

("My mindset there was that every point, I should make it count. I just needed to seize the moment.")

Raheem finished with 19 points on 13 attacks with seven excellent digs, while Angelo Lipata added 11 points with 13 excellent receptions and five excellent digs.

The trio of Angelo Lagando, Dan Nicolas, and Milven Francisco all tallied eight points each.

UP’s core will be mainly intact as it will only lose the services of Nicolas -- who represented the Fighting Maroons for three seasons from Season 85 to 87 -- come Season 88.

On the other hand, the loss extended Adamson’s losing skid to six games at the end of its Season 87 campaign, finishing with a 2-12 slate to replicate its worst finish in a UAAP Men’s Volleyball season since Season 85.

Aguilar paced the Soaring Falcons with 15 points and six excellent digs, while Dan Gutierrez scored 13 points to go along with 17 excellent receptions.

Marc Paulino also tallied 13 points, while Leo Coguimbal contributed 11 points in their final Season 87 match.

(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team