Lady Beach Spikers 

Joseph J. Bautista

COMING FROM a third place finish last year, the Lady Beach Spikers’ lineup, consisting of Michelle Morente and Jhoana Maraguinot, ranked at last place with a 0-7 record in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) beach volleyball tournament.

From main player to backup, Alyssa Valdez served as the Lady Beach Spikers’ bench player in this season. Despite serving as a reserve player for beach volleyball, Valdez will suit up for the Lady Eagles’ title defense next semester in the UAAP indoor volleyball tournament.

New court

Training has been different this season and in years to come with the addition of the beach volleyball court in the recently inaugurated Moro-Lorenzo Football Field and Track and Field Oval.

According to Morente and Maraguinot, the new facility helped with their training. The new court gives them the proper competition simulation in preparation for their matches. “At least naka-training kami sa buhangin. Na-feel namin ‘yung sand. Nakatulong naman kahit paano (At least we were able to train on the sand. We felt the sand. It helped),” Morente says of the new court.

Switching from the hardwood surface of the regular volleyball court to the sand of the beach volleyball is no easy task. It takes time to properly condition oneself to be able to move as efficiently.

Likewise, finding a nearby beach volleyball court isn’t easy. With schoolwork and regular volleyball training on the side, training on campus gives our Lady Beach Spikers the convenience of not having to go to faraway facilities.

Young guns

There’s no doubt that there is no way to go but up for the promising duo of Morente and Maraguinot. Although they were unable to tally a victory this year, their participation in the tournament served as a continuation of their training, as they were able to improve themselves and gain more experience along the way.

Morente understands that she’s following in the footsteps of the veteran duo of Valdez and Bea Tan. “Last season, I was the third man. Ate Ly [Valdez] and Ate Bea Tan were playing, so I was just watching… There really is a big difference,” said Morente in a mix of English and Filipino.

Maraguinot shares the same sentiments as Morente, saying, “Parehas din kasi kaming bago. Wala rin kaming masyado pang training (We’re both new. We don’t have that much training).”

Morente acknowledges in a mix of English and Filipino that they still have a lot to learn: “[Valdez and Tan are] better players, since Jo [Maraguinot] and I are new… But because of that, we need to step up even more.” Valdez and Tan set the bar for them last season, when they carried the team to a third-place finish.

Despite everything that has happened in this season, our Lady Beach Spikers are ready to take on the challenge. They’re stepping up and proving their worth amid the strong competition in future UAAP seasons.

Blue Beach Spikers

Jeremias P. Esguerra and Cedric B. Teng Ampo

AT THE beginning of every University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season, it is always easy to say that a team’s goal is to win the championship. The Ateneo Blue Beach Spikers, however, understand that this is much easier said than done— a team has to undergo a long and challenging process in order to win it all.

This process will have to continue for another year as the Blue Beach Spikers’ record of three wins and four losses in Season 77 place them in another year of waiting.

The lack of a championship-winning season has haunted them since the inclusion of the sport in the UAAP last Season 69. Nevertheless, the team is on the right track. Asked about their goals for the future, one of the two players for the team, Ysay Marasigan, answers with a simple yet declarative, “Final Four.” Marasigan’s partner, Jeriel Apelar, immediately concurs that entering the Final Four is definitely their first objective before anything anything else. “Final Four. That’s our first goal, of course. We’ll have higher goals after.”

Entering the Final Four does not seem to be too far-fetched in the years to come, especially with the various changes in Ateneo’s beach volleyball program. For Apelar, experience is one of the major differences of the past few seasons. His debut year in Season 76 was a stepping stone for him to gauge the UAAP. “Last year was like our first year playing, and we didn’t really get the whole jiff of it.”

The pressure of playing and carrying your school’s name can definitely affect one’s game, and in Season 76, the team members were not spared from the jitters that usually haunt rookies. They possessed a subpar record of three wins and four losses in the last go-around, not bad for a young team. However, the squad has a new asset for years to come—having a beach volleyball court to train in.

“We only trained last year like three times a week,” says the interdisciplinary studies junior. “Sometimes we had to drive to Parañaque just to train. Here, we train like twice a day now. [We have] a lot more training, definitely.”

The new beach volleyball court, together with experience and a focused coaching staff, the team is ready to take the next step. However, the road to the Final Four will be rough and full of potholes, especially with the University of Santo Tomas Tigers and the recently crowned three-time defending champions, the National University Bulldogs, in the way.

Losing nail-biters against the top tier teams last season, Karl Baysa believes that they can go back more prepared and experienced. “I guess it really was experience and a matter of getting into the UAAP—I mean it really was our first time [in Season 76]. Hopefully we can get back.”

Even though the team started the tourney hot with two wins in the first three games, they cooled off and ended up with the same record as last year, grabbing three games and dropping four, and missing the Final Four for yet another year. Despite missing out on their goal, the only way is up for the Beach Spikers of the Blue and White.