Josh Ybañez, UST hope to manage emotions as UAAP Season 88 starts with loss

Josh Ybañez and the UST Golden Spikers lacked a finishing kick in all three sets as they fell victim to a sweep loss against six-peat seeking champions NU Bulldogs in their opening game of UAAP Season 88 at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.

Despite showing fight in the early goings of tightly contested sets in the first and second, the Golden Spikers crumbled under the pressure and absorbed the loss, 25-22, 29-27, 25-19.

Among the team’s most prolific scorers, libero-turned-spiker Ybañez understood that all it takes for the Golden Spikers to win is a shift in their mentality.

“I think the problem is us kung paano 'yung mindset namin kasi minsan talaga parang nilalamon kami ng emosyon namin during the game and parang 'di na kami nakakapag-isip nang maayos,” Ybañez admitted, finishing with eight points and 15 excellent receptions in the losing effort.

“Laging tinatatak sa amin to be patient inside the court, hindi siya nata-translate pag naglalaro kasi parang ang will lang namin ang masusunod which is mali talaga.”

The former rookie MVP enters the UAAP with a boost on confidence, especially after another busy stint with Alas Pilipinas, where he saw significant action both in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships and the Southeast Asian Games.

For Ybañez, the whole ordeal has thought him how to work on his mental preparations. But as evidenced by their opening game, it has still been a process.

“I’ve played with my kuyas sa national and isa sa mga nakuha kong traits and na-absorb kong learnings ay 'yung maging matured inside the court pero I’m still working on that kasi minsan ako pa rin 'yung nawawala inside the court, pag nawala ako, nawawala 'yung teammates ko,” he said. 

“Isa 'yun sa pagtutuunan ko ng pansin during training kasi first game pa lang namin ito and hindi ito 'yung determining point kung ano mangyayari sa amin this season,” he continued.

No one man effort

Though Ybañez has sworn to do his best, it will need to be a collective effort on the part of the Golden Spikers should they contend for the title.

With the rest of the season still ahead of them, the high-flying dynamo is eager to see his teammates learn from their struggles and hopefully get them through to where they need to be.

“I hope next game we try to be patient talaga hindi pwedeng matapos sa isang paluan isang puntos kahit ilang try pa 'yan gagawan namin ng paraan,” he said.

The Golden Spikers hope to realign themselves before plunging back into action next week on Sunday, February 22, against the DLSU Green Spikers at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Both UST and La Salle will be eyeing bounce back wins after absorbing losses in their season openers.

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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.

Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.