Almadro named UP women’s volley coach

FORMER Ateneo de Manila University women’s volleyball coach Oliver Almadro was named as the new head coach of the University of the Philippines (UP) women’s volleyball team for Season 86 of the UAAP.

Almadro was already named the state university’s volleyball program director last August after departing from Ateneo where he won five titles and five runner-up trophies while at the helm of their volleyball programs.

The UP Office for Athletics and Sports Development made the announcement on his Facebook page on Friday, February 2.

“I’m eager to take on this challenge of re-energizing the UP Fight in volleyball. There will be challenges, of course, but this is a blessing for me and hopefully, with the all-out support of the UP community and the guidance of the Lord, we need to compete,” Almadro said in a statement.

Almadro will succeed last season’s coach Shaq de los Santos, who now coaches the Cignal HD Spikers in the PVL.

“What we want to happen is we want to compete and we want to win, but we won’t rush it,” he said in a mixture of Filipino and English. “We will go through the process, which is why we bring back coaches who bring the UP Fight in Volleyball.”

The men’s team, on the other hand, will be coached by Sergio “Vip” Isada.

Despite having players such as Niña Ytang, Abi Goc, Jewel Encarnacion and Nica Celis, the state university’s team only managed to win one game last season in the UAAP.

Last July, Almadro was relieved of his duties from Ateneo, after a 4-10 campaign last season and was replaced by Brazilian coach Sergio Veloso, who also coaches the Philippine national men’s volleyball team.