University of Santo Tomas-Gameville is setting its sights on a semifinal berth for a chance to face international competition in the Spikers’ Turf Invitational Conference starting Monday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
UST stepped in as a replacement for V-League silver medalist De La Salle, which withdrew from the tournament due to academic commitments.
Coach Odjie Mamon, who was part of the Alas Pilipinas coaching staff in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, said he wants his squad to reach the semifinals, where the top four teams will be joined by Kindai University of Japan and ProVolley Academy of Australia. The six teams will play another round, with the top two advancing to a winner-take-all final.
‘Our goal is to be among the top four teams that make it to the semifinals,’ said Mamon. ‘I’ll really push the team to give their all. This is a rare opportunity to be part of the semis pool and compete against guest teams from Japan and Australia, so we’ll definitely fight hard for it.’
UAAP Season 87 Rookie of the Year and Second Best Outside Spiker JJ Macam said the entire team has embraced the challenge from Mamon.
‘Actually, I think our confidence is even higher now because we know the teams we’ll be facing have more advanced skills than us. That makes us more eager to prove ourselves,’ said Macam in Filipino. ‘We’re aware that if we get too relaxed, they can easily beat us, so we really have to go all out in training every day.’
Mamon said he also picked up lessons from his World Championship stint, with Alas Pilipinas libero Josh Ybañez returning as the main offensive option alongside Macam, Gboy De Vega, and 6-foot-5 opposite hitter Al-Bukharie Sali.
‘Coach Odjie mentioned the importance of having a strong serve and staying aggressive on attack from his experience in the World Championship,’ Macam said. ‘Even on broken plays, those teams still find ways to score. Those are the things we’ve really been trying to learn and apply. But honestly, we still feel like we’re adjusting in training. Hopefully, we’ll be able to apply all of it once we start playing in Spikers’ Turf.’
UST opens its campaign on Wednesday against PGJC-Navy at Paco Arena.