Playmaker Owa Retamar is over the moon after steering defending champion National University to its ninth straight UAAP finals appearance a day before marching in his graduation. 

The 22-year-old skipper is headed to possibly the best time in a student-athlete’s life. 

Before receiving his Financial Management diploma from National U, Retamar only had one thing in mind in their semifinal showdown against De La Salle: don’t lose. 

That they didn’t. After four sets, NU booked the first Finals seat and Retamar orchestrated the winning offense off 21 excellent sets that went with five kills blocks to efficiently lead three players in double figures, with Buds Buddin finishing with a team-high 23 points.

Rookie Sherwin Umandal played an important role in the win with 14 markers highlighted by his endgame showing.  

“Ako kasi ‘yung player na ayoko natatalo. Kaya bawat game talaga sa akin importante lalo na ngayon final year ko na tapos graduation ko pa bukas,” Retamar said.

“Kaya trinabaho namin. Sabi namin ni Nico [Almendras] dalhin namin sila [‘yung rookies sa finals]. Pero sila pa ‘yung nag-angat sa amin na mga lower batch,” he added. 

There, the Bulldogs are eyeing a four-peat against a familiar championship foe in University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers, who rose as the No. 4 team against top-ranked Far Eastern University in the other semifinal match. 

While NU went all the way undefeated to its third consecutive title last year, the squad is actually staring at some serious problem as it hasn’t clearly been the better side against UST this season. 

Twice in the eliminations, NU suffered nasty defeats against UST, including seeing its 34-game winning streak snapped in the opening day of the tournament off a sweeping loss. 

With boosted confidence, though, Retamar is looking to fulfill his role as a leader and playmaker as the stage has been set for Game 1 of their best-of-three Finals series on Saturday, May 11, at the Big Dome. 

“Pag hahandaan namin [‘yung makakalaban namin]. Ang mahalaga ngayon ‘yung teamwork namin. Pagbubutihin pa namin sa Finals,” he said.