UAAP: ALAS PILIPINAS MEN STANDOUTS STAR IN NU SWEEP OF UST

SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 88 volleyball tournament – first round

MANILA, Philippines — Alas Pilipinas stars shone in National University’s 25-22, 29-27, 25-19 sweep of University of Santo Tomas to jumpstart its ‘6-peat’ bid in the UAAP Season 88 men’s volleyball tournament on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

Buoyed by the Bulldogs’ core’s experience at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship and a bronze medal at the Southeast Asian Games last year, Buds Buddin led the charge with 16 points on 11 kills, three blocks, and two aces, while Leo Ordiales had 11 points.

“The good thing about today is we saw what we still need to improve and what the team needs to work on. So far, our adjustments on the court have been okay—even if our passing wasn’t perfect, we managed to block well, which is really our main goal. Our strength in blocking was still shown,” said Buddin in Filipino.

Peng Taguibolos was instrumental with eight points, including four blocks and crucial hits in the first two sets, to take a 2-0 lead, while Jade Disquitado also scored eight and had eight receptions and four digs.

Greg Ancheta scattered the offensive wealth with 17 excellent sets to join opening weekend winners Adamson, University of the Philippines, and last year’s runner-up Far Eastern University.

“I’m happy, but at the same time I still feel nervous because this is the first time my team has had such high expectations. People keep saying I’m coaching national team members. But for me, I’m really excited about how we played. Even though we had some lapses in offense and reception, we were able to control the game through our blocking,” said NU coach Dante Alinsunurin.

“Overall, it was a really good performance, even if we still made mistakes. Hopefully, in situations like that, we continue to stay eager and hungry every game.”

National team libero Josh Ybañez, back in his position as a spiker for UST, was limited to eight points on top of 15 excellent receptions, while Trevor Valera and Sherwin Umandal also added eight each.

Adamson beats Ateneo

Meanwhile, Jims Ducusin introduced himself with an impressive 23-point debut to lead Adamson past a gritty Ateneo side, 26-28, 26-24, 30-28, 22-25, 15-12.

The 19-year-old rookie from Adamson High School stepped up in the clutch, giving the Falcons a 13-9 lead before Aimar Okeke willed the Blue Eagles back, 13-11.

Ateneo was supposed to make it a one-point lead after another point from Okeke, but Adamson challenged for a net touch and reached match point after Kennedy Batas had contact with the net, 14-11. Okeke saved a point, but when Batas served, the referee whistled for a wrong server call, as Adamson escaped in a thriller.

“ I’m happy because we were able to follow our game plan, especially with Joel. Last year, he didn’t really get much playing time, but now he was able to give his best. I really made sure to give him the opportunity. I always say college is different from high school, but he still met our expectations,” said second-year Adamson coach Raffy Mosuela.

Joel Menor also shone with 17 points. Ahmed Tahiluddin added 14 points and 21 excellent receptions, while Lourenz Domingo delivered 19 excellent sets,

Okeke led Ateneo with 23 points and 13 excellent receptions. Amil Pacinio chipped in 20 points and eight digs. Jian Salarzon contributed 17 points, while reigning MVP Batas scored six points in limited action off the bench.

2026-02-15T07:46:53Z