MANILA, Philippines: The UP Fighting Maroons finally barged into the winning column of the UAAP Season 86 women's volleyball tournament after stopping the UE Lady Warriors, 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, March 17.

UP Fighting Maroons UAAP PHOTO

The victory halted UP's 17-game losing skid dating back to last season and gave Oliver Almadro his first triumph as the head coach of the Fighting Maroons.

But more than ending the first round on a high note, Almadro and the Fighting Maroons knew the victory was important as it stands as something like a consolation to their starting middle blocker Niña Ytang who's mourning the death of her mother Carmen.

Niña, last year's Second Best Middle Blocker, has not played for UP in its past two games including against UE.

The Fighting Maroons also dedicated the victory to UP's sports psychologist Mona Adviento who recently died. Adviento was close to the UP women's volleyball team.

"Well, first I like to thank my players for trusting the system and the process and we know it's really hard to win right now in the high-level UAAP, but they did not stop working hard. Of course, we would like to thank the support of the UP community. Out of nowhere, there are people messaging us that the players are improving and it really means a lot to us," said Almadro.

"We offer this to ma'am Mona, our sports psychologist who passed away and that's why we have something like this [white patches on our sleeves]. Maam Mona this is for you. To Niña, for her mother. Niiña is not around but we share this win with her," added Almadro, whose UP team ended the first round as the seventh seed with a 1-6 record.

Steph Bustrillo led the way for UP with 24 points as four more Maroons scored in double digits. Joan Monares and Irah Jaboneta put up 12 markers each while Pling Baclay and Danica Celis added 10 points apiece.

The rookie Baclay stepped up in the absence of Ytang as she scored seven of her total points through blocks.

"We offer this game to ma'am Mona and Niña. We want them to be proud of us. We showed in this game our improved communication and mental toughness that was lacking earlier in the season. I'm grateful for our team and to all our coaches," said Bustrillo.

"I'm grateful to coach [Oliver] because he gave me trust this time. Knowing that Ate Niña was not around, my mindset was that I need to step up so that I can show that I'm also capable of delivering like her," said Baclay.