UP vs UST | Full game highlights | Uaap Season 88 Men's volleyball round 2 | apr 19, 2026

So here are your starters. Interesting starters here for Fighting Maroons. Noel Rahim, they will start with Bailon, Castrodez, Abalie, Francisco. Meanwhile for UST, good to see their team captain back in action. Dax Yambao will start at the center together with G-Boy De Vega, Ibanez, Trevor Valera, Katinsag. Yambao will serve. Abalie goes to Francisco to start things off. Ibanez with the push this time, they go to Lipata. And UP gets the first point of the match. They've had their good moments, actually a lot. There were some games that they could have won. That's right. But at the end of it all, they have a lot to build up for the next season. It's all about sustaining the good start that they've had here in the tournament. So for now, we have Angelo Lipata serving. Yambao to the middle, and that's going to be a quick one for UST. Again. Yambao after that injury scare against Adams. Nobles, Bailon, regardless of who's in front, the middles really give. And speaking of middles, it's been a middles showdown here. Katinsag with another point for UST. Off those quick attacks. One from Trevor Valera, two for Katinsag. Getting ready to serve now. Jump serve for him. Ibanez with a good reception. Yambao. Oh, that's going to be a good one. Aiko. No doubt. Yambao just giving all of his attackers their preferred sets here in set number one. That just means that everybody is playing really well. UP will now get a free ball from the Golden Spikers. Abalye to Lipata. Checked. Back this time. He will be rejected. Yambao. Short serve. Read well by UP. They go to the middle. Francisco. Barely scratching that attack. He will try again, but Aiko was there. De Vega will send it to the other side. Abalye to the pipe. Gastrodes unable to get one to go through. Abalye. To Lipata. Checked. And that's going to be a point off the hands of the blockers. Now serving for UP. Yambao. Josh. Soto with a good dig there. Abalye goes to Lipata once again. Different result this time. Ibanez sets up Aiko. Gastrodes had to push his setter away. Long rally here. Yambao. Thought he had someone there. Abalye to Angelo. Cross court. Good defense from Ducks. Ibanez setting up the middle kneel. It was Josh Ibanez playing as a setter in that last rally. Teams are really trying to avoid them when it comes to serving. MVP numbers once again for him. But Trevor joining the block party here for UST. That's now his second. You can see the difference in the defensive patterns of UST and UP. They're still trying to find their flow in the backcourt. Gastrodes was the target there. Lipata sends this straight to the net. Another point for UST. Jiboy. Five points, three attacks, and two aces already in this match. Santiago to Rahim who pushes it. Yambao. Backset Aiko. This will be a chance here for UP. Good coverage there by Santiago. No full swings yet from Rahim in this match. As Valera gets that one to go for UST. Jiboy has been here for a while now. Two aces for him so far. Santiago back set to Rahim. No go. Good defense there from UST. Josh down the line and that's going to be good. Every spiker for the Golden Spiker scoring. Take a look at that down the line hit. If he's not the tallest of outside hitters, the power is just there. The middles of UP have been checked. By UST. So Ketinsag will be a substitution. Francisco will be replaced here by Chenes. Combination that will give his team a spark here. Pestrodas with trouble. He will send this to the side of UST. Yambao. Backset. That's going to be an exclamation point for Aiko. Confuse the players of UST by changing our tempo. Sometimes the setters already have set plays in mind. And when the ball is thrown, it's up to the hitters to find a way to get past that. Because I feel like the ball is too thick. In a sense that it just goes straight to the hands of the blockers of UST. Sometimes these accolades are nice to have. But of course, team glory is something that would become a little bit more important than these awards. Long rally here. De Vega with a drop. Rahim was there to cover. So Lipata has to send it to the other side. Avila goes to the middle. Simple power tips. Pestrodas will serve. Avila is in front. He's going to have to chase after this one. Salih with a roller. Good coverage by Santiago. Oh, there is going to be a long rally. That will be ended once again by the middles of UST. Spikers just working wonders here. Take a look at this replay. Salih able to shut the door on UP as they take the first set. So with that half jump, they can easily chase after the left or right pins of UP. Francisco starts off with a serve. UST wasting no time going for that combination play. Attacks from Josh Ebanez. It also hurts UP's head. To attack the defense of UST. In our unofficial count, they're 3 out of 4 with that attack, Neil. But UP able to outsmart the defense at the net. Three points already in this match. Rahim with a serve. Yambao. He goes to Aiko who's rejected at the net. UST will try again. This time it's Valera who gets the point for the Golden Spikers. A little bit loose from the UP side. Free airspace. For UP, what's important right now is for them to commit to the block. If there are three hitters in the front line for UST. And they have a hard time re-blocking. Even if it's just one person. So that no one can leave an open block. Toto able to deliver an A pass to his setter Santiago. Activating Bailon right away. Because there have been times that UP will give a single block. But they get checked at the net. Another attack from the pipe. It's been a field day for UST from the back row, Neil. Starting set number two. UP here needs one good reception. Bailon, their leading scorer, is in front. They go to him once again. And he scores for UP. Aiko with the serve. Perfect pass once again from Soto. Lipata with one blocker to beat. Carlo has to find numbers from the other attackers. Because Rahim is not here. I hope it's nothing serious though. It would take the ankle any day compared to a knee injury. Carrying the defense of UP apart. There are a lot of balls that die in the mid-zone of UP. And the blocks just keep on coming from the Golden Spikers. In this rotation, otherwise it's going to be a free point for UST. Ibañez, perfect pass. Spikes from the pipe. Poor that skill. Even the one who got that first pass. Even the set placement. UP has already given 6 points to UST. Gastrodes targeting the libero. De Vega from the back is checked by UP. Down the line. Hit from Ibañez. Gets it to go for UST. Attacking from practically all sides of the court. Good coverage from Alabar. Keeping that ball alive. He's just saying, let's try to be consistent. De Vega with the reception. Yambao goes to Aiko. Cross-court kill. Santiago with the serve. 6 points separating both squads. Avila back set. Sally. That's over the blockers, Neil. It's the same zone. Robles with the serve. Ibañez takes care of the reception. Takes care of the scoring for UST. That's the combination of UST. Or if the blockers can see it. For the second touch. Bailon with the service. Ibañez. Will waste no time. To give set number 2 to the Golden Spikers. Interesting to see how that's going to play out. Santiago. The offense here. Point goes to UP. They're already there. But they committed that fault. Maham with the serve. Santiago goes to the middle. Robles joins the scoring here for UP in set number 3. Lipata with the serve. Maham. Perfect reception. Yambao goes to Aiko. Ends the scoring run right away with that push. Don't want to jinx it. But one of the rare games where the challenge hasn't been utilized yet by both squads. Aiko. With a good serve. Santiago goes to Castrodez. Finds a way to score. This time he just tried to find that end zone. Perfect pass. They go to the middle. Josh Ibañez. Nine points already. Santiago. Sets up Castrodez who flies. That's more like it. Take a look at that. Talked about him being the energizer here for UP. They don't need to complicate things. Coach Oji said we don't need to reinvent the wheel. Because whatever we were doing in set number 1 and 2 was very effective. They were able to build an early 8 point lead again. It's important to point out the digging efficiency also of both UP and UST. UP only has a 21% conversion rate off their floor defense compared to the 48% of UST. That's a big discrepancy, Neil. Yambao. Goes to Maham. From the back row. Aiko will push. Chance here for UP. Santiago. Lifata is checked. Good cover from Soto. They will try again. But Ibañez joining the block partly. And he's loving that one. Trevor with the serve. Soto to Santiago. They go to Castrodez. Trouble at the net. Ibañez wins that one. Pakure will try to swing. But he is rejected by UST. Which means Bailar will be rotating to the front. Ibañez receives it. Maham. Swings from the pipe. Percentage of conversion. After a couple of attack errors, Neil. We haven't even seen the deballs from UST. Mostly, their attack comes from the back row. From the middle blockers. Good save from Alabar. But Bailon able to get that block point for UP. The serves. Power serve there. Handled well by UP. Castrodez will swing. Checked at the net. Second try for him. Triple block. Able to handle business there. But it will be a free ball for the fighting Maroons. Bailon gets a much needed side out here. Given the limited opportunities that will be given to him. Castrodez with the serve. Ibañez from the pipe. Three points away from a much needed win here for the Golden Spikers. Santiago. Tulipata. Checked by Sally. Good cover there by the fighting Maroons. Second try. But Ibañez was there to dig. Trouble for UST. Santiago to Bailon. This time, he's defended well. Tulipata using the hands of the blockers there. Macabre. Misreception there. Free ball UP. They go to Tulipata who's rejected at the net by UST. Because a side out by UST will bring them to match point. Santiago with the serve. Macabre takes care of the reception. Ibañez brings them a point closer. He has two blocks and three aces to go with the number of attacks already, Neil. It looks like that's going to be an ace. And the Golden Spikers, if UP...