The University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers will begin their comeback campaign in the UAAP Season 87 men’s volleyball tournament on Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

The Golden Spikers yielded to the National University Bulldogs and settled for silver last Season 86 after finishing the elimination round in fourth with an 8-6 win-loss record.

Reigning MVP Josh Ybañez told TomasinoWeb that he believes that their team this season is intact.

“I could say na intact yung lineup namin this season but I am not setting expectations sakanila. Yung expectations sakanila nalang yun and we won’t take that as something na makaka-pressure samin,” Ybañez told TomasinoWeb.

UST head coach Odjie Mamon said they have a more cohesive team, and the team has the most ideal set of players this season.

According to Mamon, the team’s preparations went well because of the preseason tournaments they joined, such as V-League and Philippine National Volleyball Federation U21. The team also held a training camp in Japan last January 2025.

UST’s system and playing style was made simpler by Mamon with less aggression.

“I made it simpler, tapos mas defined ngayon yung roles ng mga players,” he told TomasinoWeb.

Mamon said that the level of confidence he has this season with the team is high because the Golden Spikers had an excellent performance in their training camp against Premiere Volleyball League teams.

“In terms of confidence, yung confidence level mataas kasi maganda yung showing nila sa training camp namin against PVL teams so hopefully we are on target na mag finals ulit,” Mamon told TomasinoWeb.

“Syempre importante rin yung consistency sa application ng system namin every game,” he added.

The Golden Spikers’ key player said that their training these past few weeks has been heavy as their coaches pushed them to their limits.

“These past few weeks sobrang heavy ng training namin like pinukpok talaga kami ng coaches, as in pinupush nila kami sa limits namin,” Ybañez told TomasinoWeb.

“And I think after that [ng mga training], pag na-overcome na namin yun, dun na lalabas yung mga improvements,” he added.

The star player also emphasized that he is very confident that they will not settle for silver this season.

He also noted that the Golden Spikers need the full support of the UST community in their redemption quest this season.

“To the Thomasian community, continue supporting us and thank you rin sa mga naging support ninyo samin all throughout ng journey namin.”