Almadro tapped as UP volleyball boss

After stepping down as Ateneo de Manila University head coach, Oliver Almadro is moving to nearby Diliman to steer the volleyball program of University of the Philippines starting Season 86 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Almadro, who had a forgettable performance as Blue Eagles head coach in the previous season, will be in charge of the volleyball program of the Fighting Maroons.

His first order of business is to hire the successors of Shaq delos Santos and Rald Ricafort, who was let go as coaches of women's and men's teams, respectively.

This will be Almadro's second executive role after being hired as head of volleyball operations of Petro Gazz in the Premier Volleyball League. He also serves as head coach of Letran College women's squad in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

"I'm honored to be given this opportunity. I'm aware that it'll be hard, but it's actually easy to trust in the process because of all those who believe in me," Almadro, who also called the shots for the national men's team in the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore in 2015, said.

In his new post, he will have the full faith of newly-appointed Office for Athletics and Sports development director Bo Perasol as well as the full-time support of the team's new backer, Farm Fresh Dairy.

"We believe that Coach O (Almadro) will bring the UP volleyball program to greater heights. He has the experience of building championship teams and he will have a helping hand in the form of our new sponsor for our volleyball program," Perasol said.

"We give the biggest thanks to Farm Fresh Dairy for joining us in this new era for UP volleyball."

Almadro will be bringing with him his wealth of experience after guiding the Ateneo men's team to a three-peat from 2015 to 2017 in a 10-year stint and the women's squad to the Season 82 title.

His last season with the women's squad, however, ended in a disaster as it finished with a 4-10 record and missed the Final Four for the first time since 2009, prompting the Blue Eagles to replace him with Brazilian coach Julio Veloso.

At UP, he faces a tall task of architecting yet another rebuilding program for the men's and women's teams that both last won it all back in the early '80s.

Rising tower Nina Ytang will stand as the pillar for the women while energizer Louis Gamban will be the key player for the men.