Lady Maroons grab 1st win, give UE 23rd straight loss

By Anthony Divinagracia Posted Jan 11th 2014

University of the Philippines (UP) finally barged into the win column on Saturday, leaving perennial cellar-mates University of the East (UE) in tatters halfway into the 76^th UAAP women’s volleyball tournament at the San Juan Arena.

The Lady Maroons easily swept the hapless Lady Warriors, 25-8, 25-18, 25-16, to move up at 1-6 and give UE its 23^rd straight loss since 2012.

Angeli Araneta, Katherine Bersola, and Julienne Caluglug fronted the Lady Maroons’ improved play with 11 points each to make up the bulk of their 34 kills against only 21 for the Lady Warriors.

Playing with renewed confidence and better execution, the Lady Maroons took a 16-5 lead in the opening set as UE languished into a maze of turnovers to yield the set.

With momentum clearly on its side, UP capitalized on UE’s error-riddled game while feeding on its superb blocking courtesy of Araneta and Caluglug to grab a 16-9 advantage beyond recall.

UE though managed to steal the lead in the third, 3-1. But the Lady Maroons were hardly fazed as Araneta, Caluglug, and Bersola repeatedly punctured UE’s defense from all fours to push the Lady Maroons comfortably ahead, 23-11, and virtually ice the contest.

Shaya Adorador wound up with just nine markers to lead UE’s lackluster offense. Worse, the Lady Warriors surrendered 23 error points to UP, which also led in blocking (8-4) and service aces (7-1). UE remained winless in six games to hold the cellar by its lonesome with just one more game heading into the next round.