The Green Archers struggled against last season’s third placers Tamaraws, 24-26, 26-24,16-25, 25-18, 16-14, to kick off a campaign for another sweep of the crowns being disputed at the UP Human Kinetics gym in Diliman.
But the featured game of the day was in the women’s action, when V-League finalists De La Salle and UST met, with the Lady Archers avenging their loss to the Tigresses in that inter-school, off-season tournament, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-9.
Last season’s men’s runner-up UP played true to form in shutting out fourth-seed Adamson, 25-21, 25-17, 25-17. The other men’s matches saw Ateneo rip UE, 25-16, 25-16, 25-21, and UST blast NU, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23.
The Lady Tamaraws and Lady Bulldogs were vicious on opening day with their 3-0 shutouts of the UE Redskirts (25-17, 25-22, 25-18) and Ateneo Lady Eagles (25-13, 25-13, 25-17).
The other women’s contest went the full route with UP squeezing past Adamson, 16-25, 25-18, 25-16, 6-25, 15-9.