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Oliver Almadro with the UP women's volleyball team. Handout/UP OASD.

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Almadro preaches patience as UP rebuilds women's volleyball program

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:819px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1707526528557.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Oliver Almadro with the UP women&#x27;s volleyball team. <em>Handout/UP OASD.</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA -- Oliver Almadro is confident that the University of the Philippines&#x27; (UP) women&#x27;s volleyball team has a bright future. However, he warns that it may take some time for them to reach their full potential.</p><p>Almadro will call the shots for the UP Fighting Maroons starting Season 86, aside from also serving as program director. Though armed with plenty of experience from his previous coaching stints, Almadro is also realistic about the status of the program that he is now handling.</p><p>&quot;It will be a long process,&quot; Almadro said of their rebuilding program on Friday. &quot;What the chancellor and Coach Bo [Perasol] said to me [is], &#x27;Slowly, but surely.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>&quot;As they say, they trust the process, and we will take it slowly but surely, with the sponsors that we have, with the UP community that&#x27;s fully supporting the sports program of Coach Bo Perasol,&quot; he added.</p><p>&quot;I guess we&#x27;re on the right track.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Coach O&quot; takes over a UP women&#x27;s team that won just one game in Season 85. They have not made the Final 4 since Season 78, when the likes of Tots Carlos and Isa Molde were still playing for the squad.</p><p>In the offseason, a handful of key players including Alyssa Bertolano and Kamille Cal turned professional, although UP retained three veterans who rebuffed pro offers -- Niña Ytang, Jewel Encarnacion, and Nica Celis.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/18/24/3-up-volleyball-core-members-to-stay-amid-pro-offers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UAAP: UP says 3 volleyball core members to stay amid pro offers</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/17/24/up-bolsters-volleyball-roster-with-rookies-from-visayas" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UAAP: UP bolsters women’s volleyball roster with rookies from Visayas</a></div><p>&quot;As I&#x27;ve said, this is a big challenge for us, for me, for Coach Bo Perasol, for the sports program, the volleyball program of UP,&quot; said Almadro, who was named program director in August 2023 before formally taking over as head coach earlier this month. &quot;But we take it as a blessing.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Sabi nga nila, from the bottom, it&#x27;s nowhere to go but up. So &#x27;yun naman ang laging mantra ng UP, it&#x27;s nowhere to go but up. So that will be also our battlecry,&quot; he added. &quot;</p><p>Almadro&#x27;s hope is that the supporters of the UP women&#x27;s volleyball team -- and the entire program -- will give him the same support and patience that he is getting from Perasol and other stakeholders.</p><p>&quot;Talagang huwag lang po tayong mainip, and it will be a long process,&quot; he said, &quot;But we will make sure that the UP community will be proud of these athletes.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Isa lang ang sinabi ko sa kanila. Every year, they have a story. So, we have to change the story. And for them to change the story, we have to change the culture,&quot; he also said. &quot;And if you really want to change the culture, you really have to change the story of daily habits.&quot;</p><p>While Almadro downplayed expectations for UP in the upcoming UAAP Season 86 women&#x27;s volleyball tournament, he also expressed pride in the current crop of players who are paving the way for the team&#x27;s future.</p><p>&quot;Ayun nga, rebuilding process. Ang maganda doon sa mga seniors, they really want something this year. Sabi ko, it may not be this year, it may not be next year, but you will be the start of the legacy of the UP volleyball community,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I know it will be hard. It will not be easy. Baka sa simula, mahiya. Baka sa simula, ma-pressure. But I know these girls will really fight for their school,&quot; he also said.</p><p>Before taking over the UP program, Almadro coached the men&#x27;s and women&#x27;s teams of the Ateneo de Manila University. He steered the Ateneo men&#x27;s team to a three-peat from Season 76 to 79, and led their women&#x27;s team to the Season 81 championship.</p><p>But the Blue Eagles ranked just sixth in Season 85, Almadro&#x27;s final year in charge. He was replaced in July 2023 by Sergio Veloso, also the head coach of the men&#x27;s national volleyball team.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/2/2/uaap-oliver-almadro-to-coach-up-women-s-volleyball-team-1423" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UAAP: Oliver Almadro to coach UP women&#x27;s volleyball team</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/30/23/up-names-oliver-almadro-as-new-volleyball-program-director" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UAAP: UP names Oliver Almadro as new volleyball program director</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/03/23/veloso-is-new-coach-of-ateneo-womens-volleyball-team" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UAAP: Sergio Veloso is new coach of Ateneo women&#x27;s volleyball team</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2956267"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><div><br/></div>

<p>Oliver Almadro is confident that the UP women's volleyball team has a bright future, though he warns that it may take some time for them to reach their full potential. </p>

Oliver Almadro is confident that the UP women's volleyball team has a bright future, though he warns that it may take some time for them to reach their full potential.