UAAP volley: Gorayeb takes over NU; Adamson seeks win No. 4

Games Wednesday:

(Mall of Asia Arena)

8 a.m. – UP vs FEU (men)

10 a.m. – AdU vs UST (men)

2 p.m. – UST vs NU (women)

4 p.m. – AdU vs UP (women)

MANILA, Philippines – Coach Roger Gorayeb makes his return in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament when his new team National University clashes with struggling University of Santo Tomas today at the Mall of Asia Arena.   

Gametime is at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, Adamson University seeks to extend its winning run to four games against University of the Philippines in the day’s other match at 4 p.m.

Taking over an underachieving Lady Bulldogs side mired in fifth place at 2-3, Gorayeb will give them a much-needed shot in the arm.

In a bid to reverse NU’s fortunes around in the New Year, Gorayeb, who steered Ateneo to a couple of runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013, was appointed last Monday by athletic director Junel Baculi to replace Ariel dela Cruz.

Jaja Santiago, Myla Pablo, Rizza Mandapat and rookie Jorelle Singh will definitely bloom under Gorayeb, who hopes to transform the Lady Bulldogs to a legitimate title contender just like what he did with the Lady Eagles.

The Lady Falcons now boast of a much-improved attacking game to complement their tough floor defense to vault to third place with a 3-2 slate. But they need to level up their game in their 4 p.m. duel with the Lady Maroons, whose 2-4 record is deceiving with the way they played this season.

UP gave defending champion Ateneo a huge scare before yielding a close 18-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-15, 11-15 loss last Sunday.

Mylene Paat, who is enjoying a solid season with her new position as open spiker, will lead Adamson’s charge along with Amanda Villanueva, Jessica Galanza and Faye Guevara.

The Lady Falcons are bracing for a possible onslaught by the dreaded Lady Maroons trio of Nicole Tiamzon, Kathy Bersola and Angeli Araneta.

“Maganda ang performance ng UP ngayon, kaya pinaghahandaan namin. Ganoon pa rin ang strategy, we have to be focused. Hindi natin masasabi kung ano ang itatakbo ng team dahil nga sa bakasyon,” said Adamson coach Sherwin Meneses.

After winning the season opener, the Tigresses dropped their last four matches to drop to seventh place despite having a solid roster behind rookie EJ Laure, Pam Lastimosa, Ria Meneses, Jessie de Leon and Carmela Tunay.

The only thing going for UST is the fact that the España-based spikers are unbeaten when the league plays at big venues. The Tigresses are 3-0 when they play at either the Mall of Asia Arena or at the Smart Araneta Coliseum since 2013.