UAAP: Shaq Delos Santos named UP women’s volleyball team head coach

FILE – Shaq Delos Santos. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Shaq Delos Santos is returning to the UAAP women’s volleyball scene as the new head coach of University of the Philippines.

The UP women’s volleyball team on Monday welcomed Delos Santos as its new head coach for the UAAP Season 85, replacing Godfrey Okumu, who announced last July 31 that he has stepped down from the post.

“The UP Women’s Volleyball Team would like to welcome Coach Shaq Delos Santos as our new head coach,” the team posted. “We believe in you Coach and can’t wait to see what you have in store for the team!”

The former Philippine women’s national team coach last coached in the UAAP for Far Eastern University, which he led to three Final Four appearances in his four seasons from 2014-2017 before he was replaced by George Pascua.

Since leaving the UAAP, Delos Santos focused on the national team and the club volleyball league, winning four Philippine Superliga titles for the defunct-Petron team from 2017 to 2019.

Delos Santos, who won a UAAP championship for University of Santo Tomas in the 2009 season, is currently calling the shots for Cignal in the Premier Volleyball League and steered the HD Spikers to back-to-back bronze medal finishes this 2022 season.

The Fighting Maroons made a breakthrough Final Four appearance in the UAAP Season 78 in 2016. But the team missed the semifinals in three of the past four seasons under Okumu.

Delos Santos will take over a young UP core led by Alyssa Bertolano, who had a stellar rookie season despite the team’s 5-9 finish last May.

The Fighting Maroons were the third team to change their coach after Season 84 with FEU tapping Tina Salak as the new head coach and Adamson hiring Jerry Yee.