By Angel Joyce C. Basa

Not long after the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 began its men’s volleyball tournament, Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraw rookie Vennie Paul Ceballos started making his presence felt as one of the top players in his position. Unbeknown to many, his path to finding a spot in the Morayta-based squad came after a series of redirections and a little help from a trusted senior.

The green-and-gold libero managed to become the first best digger and receiver of the men's volleyball category only after the first three games.

With FEU currently standing at a 5-0 win-loss record, Ceballos retains the second Best Digger spot with an average of 2.47 per set and fourth Best Receiver with 48.48-percent efficiency, while the whole team sits as the second and third best digging and receiving teams, respectively.

Receiving a lucky chance 

With hopes of pursuing his dream of studying in Manila, the young Tamaraw shared that FEU was his first choice upon arrival from his province, Cebu.

Ceballos came from the University of Southern Philippines Foundation and represented his region in the 2024 National Private Schools Athletic Association.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, he revealed that it was their team captain Jelord Talisayan whom he reached out to. 

“Nag-chat ako [sa kaniya] na gusto ko mag-Manila, gusto ko mag-FEU, tapos after nung grumaduate na ako, ayun, nag-process na ako ng papers ko tapos wala akong go signal na FEU kaagad kasi walk-in tryout ako (I messaged him that I want to go to Manila, I want to go to FEU, then after I graduated, I processed my papers because there was not a go signal yet from FEU because I was a walk-in tryout applicant),” he said.

Due to uncertainties and conflicts on schedule, Ceballos decided to try out for other universities, but was rejected by another UAAP school. 

Luckily, FEU coaches saw potential on the young athlete and decided to recruit him for his talent despite being a walk-in applicant.

After joining the team, Ceballos felt a sense of relief, especially with the support he received from the coaches and management, as well as the brotherhood that they formed. 

“Ang gaan talaga sa feeling na andito ako sa FEU tapos masasabi ko talaga na para dito talaga ako, hindi talaga para sa ibang schools, kasi ito talaga ‘yung unang punterya ko sa pagpunta ko dito [sa Manila] (I feel relieved that I’m in FEU and I can really say that I belong here, not on any other schools, because this is really what I was aiming for when I went here in Manila),” he added.

Fortifying lessons

Not even halfway through the tournament, Ceballos has already earned praise for his performance as the new starting libero of the team, currently securing spots in the individual rankings of the best digger and best receiver categories.

As a rookie player, the Tamaraw mentioned that the recognition was overwhelming, but despite his current status in the UAAP, he learned to never let the statistics get into his head and to continuously focus on his role in the team. 

The defensive specialist recalled a learning opportunity from the past V-League tournament where he went head-to-head with De La Salle University’s Menard Guerrero in the individual libero rankings.

“Parang dinadala ko [‘yung rankings] sa loob ng court na ‘Ay eto na, eto na,’ tapos hindi ko alam na nakalimutan ko na pala ‘yung present na trabaho ko sa loob ng court sa pag-iisip ko, kaya mali talaga siya na iisipin. Although andun talaga ‘yung stats, pero mali talaga siya na mindset na dadalhin mo siya sa loob ng court na number one ka (I always thought of the rankings inside the court to the point that I forgot the job I had at the present, that's why it was not good. Although the stats are there, it's really not good to have a mindset inside the court that you are number one),” Ceballos said.

Apart from the V-League, Ceballos also added that their exposure on Spikers’ Turf alongside other veterans in the field helped him develop what he needed for the UAAP as a rookie.

“Para sa akin, ‘yun talaga ‘yung big impact na nakalaro kami ng Spiker’s Turf kasi nga ‘yung mga kalaro namin mga kuyas namin tapos may mga learnings talaga kami na na-a-adapt sa team (For me, playing in the Spiker's Turf made a big impact because we played against our seniors and we really had a lot of learning that we adapted as a team),” he said.

He highlighted that his experiences from preseason leagues helped him and the rest of the FEU team to toughen their mentality and mindset as they entered this season of the UAAP.

Anticipating greatness

With the UAAP still underway, the rest of the FEU Tamaraws are expected to perform their best as they are considered as one of the top contenders of the season, especially after beating National University after six long years.

As for the Cebuano Tamaraw, he hopes to gain the trust of the whole FEU community as they brave the rest of the season because there is still a lot for the team to show.

“May mga skills pala kami na akala ng iba, hindi namin kaya, pero may mga skills pala kami na kaya pala naming ipakita sa mga tao at sa FEU community sa pinagtatrabahuhan namin sa loob ng ensayo (We have skills that other people don't think we can do, but we have skills that we can show them and to the FEU community, which we work hard on during trainings),” he stressed.

With spectators deeming this batch as FEU’s ‘best team yet,’ Ceballos shared that the team prioritizes bringing home the championship back to Morayta after an 11-year title drought.

“‘Yung individual awards parang sine-set aside namin, ‘yung gusto talaga namin as a team is mag-champion talaga at gumawa ng history this Season 87 kasi nga sabi nga nila iba raw ‘yung team namin ngayon, parang malaking impact siya sa volleyball ngayon sa UAAP, parang ang daming naglu-look up sa amin na team (We are setting aside the individual awards because what we really want is to bring home the championship and make history this Season 87, because as other people said, our current team is different, like we are making a big impact to the UAAP volleyball),” he stated.

With Ceballos’ performance, the green-and-gold team currently bears dominance on the individual rankings including Mikko Espartero and Dryx Saavedra atop the Best Spiker leaderboard at top one and four, respectively. 

Nevertheless, their eyes are still focused towards securing the golden trophy as they near the end of the first round with a clean sheet and last two games on March 8 against Adamson University and on March 15 against De La Salle University.

(Photo courtesy of Max Dela Cruz/FEU Athletics)