UP’s Monares skipping UAAP Season 85 volley due to injury
Joan Marie Monares of the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons women’s volleyball team is skipping the upcoming UAAP Season 85 action due to an injury.
According to the Bacolod City-native volleybelle, she was forced to sit out the upcoming women’s volleyball season as she is scheduled to undergo surgery on a lingering injury on her left ankle.
“It was really unfortunate that I have to sit out the upcoming UAAP season because I am very much prepared and excited for this because I have adjusted to the system of our new coach [Shaq delos Santos],” Monares said.
“But it was the doctor’s advice for me to undergo the surgery already because this was an existing injury since my rookie year and the pain will not subside unless I go under the knife,” she added.*
A star volleyball player from Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts, the 5-foot10 Monares made a good impression prior to her rookie year in UP until an ankle injury slowed her down.
The crafty spiker out of Bacolod still managed to play limited minutes during UAAP Season 84 as she recovered from her injury. She had a career-high of five points in UP’s game over De La Salle University Lady Spikers.
During the offseason, Monares showed vast improvement as a hitter and was even named as Player of the Game with double-double 15 points and 12 excellent digs in UP’s win over University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses in the V-League.
“As much as possible talaga, I don’t want to undergo surgery because I don’t want to be away from volleyball, so during the offseason tournaments I am really playing through pain,” Monares said.
“I was being managed by our medical team until I hurt that same ankle in practice. That’s the time I was advised to have it operated,” she said.
“It is unfortunate but I will recover from this,” she added.
Monares was one of the Western Visayas-based players in the Fighting Maroons roster aside from Ilongga Marianne Sotomil, Talisaynon Alyssa Bertolano, Antiqueña Irah Jaboneta, and Bacolodnon Nikha Cabasac./ASC,
Charles Dimaano scored the game’s biggest basket in the final 56 seconds as De La SalleZobel outlasted Ateneo de Manila High School, 70-65, to rediscover its winning ways in the UAAP Season 85 high school boys’ basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Wednesday, February 1.
Dimaano scored 12 points, including a layup that gave the Junior Archers the needed separation at 65-61, and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“Puso lang at stick to the system with coach Boris [Aldeguer],” Dimaano, a native of Santa Rosa, Laguna, said.
The Blue Eagles tried to turn things around late in the game, but LeBron Nieto missed a threepointer in the final seven seconds that would have tied the game at 68-68.
With its second win in six games, De La SalleZobel tied its victims and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) from fourth to sixth place, still well within the top-four range.
“Aside from playing against Ateneo, it is an important game for us who we are going to play because we are already at 1-4, deep in the hole. It so happened that the important game was against Ateneo,” Junior Archers coach Boris Aldeguer said.
“That was the goal, to beat Ateneo if we wanted to still make it to the Final 4,” he added.
De La Salle-Zobel was coming off a tough 71-74 loss to three-peat-seeking Nazareth School of National University (NU), which Aldeguer said was used as a springboard for this victory.
The Junior Archers gave the Bullpups fits before falling short of a major upset last Sunday, January 29.
“Kailangang maganda ang laro natin sa NU kasi... we know, among the top three, they are really hard to beat. We just wanted to compete in that game, so when we play Ateneo, the team na medyo patas naman kami, medyo maganda ang confidence going to that game,” Aldeguer said.
“I think malaking bagay ‘yung ginawa namin sa NU coming to this game,” he added.
Shad Chang led the Junior Archers with 14 points, while Ryhie Melencio also had a double-double outing of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
De La Salle-Zobel hopes to score its first winning streak of the season against University of the PhilippinesIntegrated School on the final day of the first round on Sunday, February 5.
Third Ebdane took the scoring mantle for the Blue Eagles with 16 points, while Nieto had 15 points, four boards, three steals, and three assists.
Meanwhile, John Rey Pasaol dropped 20 points while VJ Pre had 13 points and 14 boards as Far Eastern University (FEU)Diliman subdued UST, 79-69, to remain level with Adamson University in the second spot at 5-1.
The Baby Tamaraws fended off repeated Tiger Cubs uprisings in the second half to prevail.
FEU-Diliman coach Allan Albano hopes that his troops will deliver a better outing heading into this Sunday’s match-up against titleholders NU.
“Marami kaming kailangang improvements sa defense namin,” Albano said.
“Pero I congratulate pa rin ‘yung mga players nasa dulo, sumunod sila sa Plan B namin,” he added.
Mark Llemit paced the Tiger Cubs with 17 points and five rebounds while JP Pangilinan and James Jumao-as each scored 15 points. (ABS-CBN News)