MANILA, Philippines – The UE Lady Warriors were no strangers to roadbumps as they navigated through the UAAP Season 86 women’s volleyball tournament with a preseason injury derailing their campaign even before it started.
After having to brave the season without injury-hit Jelai Gajero on the roster, UE continued to struggle with off-court issues as well – even one that led to the suspension of head coach Jerry Yee midway through the first round until the Lady Warriors wrapped up their campaign on Saturday.
Despite all of this, assistant coach Obet Vital, who took over the reins from Yee following his suspension, said that there were a lot of things that his players were able to gain.
“So my thoughts on the season, given the rookies that we have playing, I felt that we did pretty good. Could’ve done better, but very proud of the accomplishments so far,” said Vital.
Going up against UE in their final game of the year, the Lady Warriors pushed through from a set down and rallied to take a four-set victory. They finished the year with a 3-11 record – the first time that UE breached three wins since 2019.
Nominally an improvement from their record last year, Vital is taking it as a positive and a harbinger of things to come.
“This is the first time that UE has come in sixth place in a long time so that’s what we wanted,” he said.
“We came here to UE to make history, no matter the wins or losses. Today, the last ball dropped, and that’s what I told them. And we made history po. So I’m very proud of them. We’re setting the tone for what’s more to come.”
UE is looking to build on this year’s improvement with the return of Gajero as well as new recruits that are coming to reinforce the Recto-based squad.
“Besides the momentum, along with the players that are coming in, we have some players that are coming in. You guys mentioned Gajero getting hurt, we have Gajero coming back, we have some [California Academy] players that are coming in also, and then other recruits from the South and other areas,” said Vital.
“So we look forward to continuing the effort and work toward an even better success,” he added.
Vital’s Lady Warriors finished ahead of both the UP Fighting Maroons (1-13) and the Adamson Lady Falcons (3-11).