UAAP title duel features ex-volley buddies

La Salle mentor Ramil de Jesus looks forward to matching up with Far Eastern counterpart George Pascua in a coaching battle with his college teammate.

The duo won a UAAP men’s volleyball crown together for their alma mater FEU under the legendary Kid Santos back in 1991 when De Jesus was a senior outside hitter and Pascua was a rookie middle blocker and now they will lock horns on opposite benches in the dispute for the Season 80 women’s volleyball tiara.

“Matiyagang tao si George, maganda ang ginagawa niya ngayon sa team niya so kailangan talaga bantayan ang FEU (Pascua is a hard working person who’s doing a great job for FEU. We need to prepare for them well),” said De Jesus, who has steered the Lady Spikers to their 10th straight finals appearance.

De Jesus and Pascua were seen sitting together and enjoying themselves during the Ateneo-FEU men’s Final Four last Saturday at MOA Arena, reminiscing about their playing years.

“Kwentuhan namin, nung time namin yung UP halos hindi mapuno, ngayon, tignan mo 13,000; ibang klase volleyball ngayon. Hindi kami naging part ng ganito karami pero sabi niya, part pa rin tayo niyan, may contribution pa rin tayo dyan (We recalled how only a handful would watch our games at UP CHK Gym and now 13,000 are watching the game. Although we didn’t experience such a big crowd, he said we were still part of volleyball’s growth and contributed to this success),” said Pascua.

The Lady Spikers are gunning for a three-peat while the Lady Tams are seeking to win a first diadem since Season 70. Interestingly, DLSU and FEU last squared off for the women’s tiara in Season 71 with the Lady Spikers of De Jesus prevailing after the Lady Tams of Nes Pamillar.