In a flash of surprise, University of the Philippines made heads turn after pulling off a huge upset of  National University, 26-24, 23-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12, in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday, March 26.

And for heavy hitter Nina Ytang, the victory proved that anything is possible.

Despite trailing in the contest, the Fighting Maroons regained their composure and rallied back to beat the erstwhile undefeated Lady Bulldogs. It also marked the State U's first win over the perennial winners since Season 81, or in 2019.

“‘Di namin in-expect na mananalo kami… pagkapanalo, pagkakuha namin ng last point, ‘di ko alam ‘yong gagawin ko, iiyak, matutuwa, sisigaw bako,” said Ytang moments after her historic performance at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

“Kasi very surprising ‘yong result no’ng game, and talagang anything is possible, and kapit lang talaga,” she added.

The 6-foot Cebuana hitter tallied her career-best in scoring, unleashing 30 points on 27 attacks and three blocks – inching closer to Tot Carlos’ 32-point output seven years ago which was also the highest for any UP player in the distaff side.

Ytang also became the first middle blocker to reach 30 points after former NU star Jaja Santiago who achieved the feat in 2017.

“Syempre po nakaka-pressure, kasi iisipin ko kung papano ko ipagpapatuloy ‘yong ganung performance sa next game, siguro sipag lang talaga," Ytang responded after putting her name next to former UAAP stars Carlos and Santiago.

It was a bounce-back victory for Ytang and the Maroons, who suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to its Katipunan rival Ateneo last weekend. They improved to 4-5 at fifth place.

“Speechless talaga ako, [and talagang] bilog ang bola. Binigay lang namin talaga lahat ‘eh. Sabi nga namin nung fifth set, dito na, malayo na tayo, kaya bakit pa tayo susuko?” Ytang continued.

“Linaban lang talaga namin, tulungan at tiyaga lang sa loob ng court,” she added.

Even though Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon had superb outings anew, UP received balanced support from Irah Jaboneta, Kianne Olango and Bienne Bansil to lead the Diliman-based crew’s offense while spearheading the other departments were Jaz Manguilimot (17 excellent sets) and Yesha Capistrano (11 excellent digs, seven excellent receptions).

UP now goes for two in a row when it collides with the slumping University of the East (0-9) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday, March 30