Last night, I had the chance to interview a diehard fan of not only a team but Philippine Volleyball as well. He is probably one of the fans who would often go to The Arena just to watch an incredible volleyball action even if his team has no match for the day.

He is often defined as one of the best analysts around when it comes to the game because of his scientific approach. He may sometimes be biased but most of the time, we will see him appreciating the sport and the players. Not only does he root for a certain team, but he also commends some players who are quite remarkable. We often see him wearing his school colors or expressing his school spirit but most of the time, he would just sit and take down notes on the match being played.

His name is Jan Carlo Gavile or more known as Jannie or JC or Jan Carlo. He is 18 years old and just graduated from Ateneo de Manila High School. Guess what? He will take European Studies at De La Salle University-Manila, his former school’s archrival, in his incoming freshman year. Despite being stout (sorry Jannie! Haha!), he is an athletic person who can beat you in any sport anytime. I, for one, have been a victim of his volleyball and badminton skills. He moderates a site known to fans, vleagueDOTtk, which is celebrating their four years of promoting volleyball in the country.

Jancarlo is not only known as a diehard fan of volleyball but other sports as well like football, basketball, badminton, etc. When asked how many sports in the UAAP does he go to, he mention around 7 out of the 14. Here’s an interview with The Oracle:

This photo may be (I hope not) one of the last photos I would be taking for the Shakey’s V-League Season 5. This photo as well as a few more selected ones were taken last May 4 at The Arena during the V-League debut game of Visayan team University of San Jose. They defeated the still winless College of Saint Benilde in 3 sets: 25-22, 25-20, 25-23. You can check out all the volleyball action photos at the Photo Gallery section.

So why “last photos”? Because Shakey’s V-League seems to be NOT too friendly anymore to amateur photographers (and “feeling” shutterbugs like me). I was informed by friends whom I got to know by watching the V-League games, that since it’s the Quarter Finals already, the management have decided to prioritize professional photographers coming from the Media. So ringside spots like the one behind the banners are now strictly for the pros only.

I am more of a women’s volleyball kinda guy from the start because it was more popular at that time. I do not know much about the the local men’s volleyball scene and the only male international players that I know are Kasakov of Russia and the Italian Vigor Bovolenta during the World League in the 1990s. Last year, the UAAP Men’s Volleyball championship series between Far Eastern University (FEU) and University of the Philippines (UP) caught my attention. And I was in awe watching one particular volleyball player.

This hard hitting spiker belongs to the FEU Men’s Volleyball team. He was one of the key players responsible for FEU’s three-peat championships in UAAP Men’s Volleyball. He ended his final UAAP playing year with an exclamation point by driving his team in capturing the championship crown against UP last year. He captured the Best Spiker award in that season.

Need I say more?

Blocking is an important defensive skill in the game of volleyball. And it is one of the hardest skills to learn, and it does not ensure a point most of the time, unless properly executed. The objectives of blocking is to stop the ball, and hopefully return it to the opponents side for a point, also making the court easier for the back row to defend, and to deflect the ball up so that it can be used for an attack. In this department, Beverly Boto of the Lyceum Lady Pirates and Michelle Segodine built the toughest wall to destruct.