By AC Putong
The pickleball craze continues to sweep through Silliman University (SU) after the SU Student Government (SUSG) Sports and Recreation Committee introduced it as a new event during the Hibalag Cup 2025 last Aug. 9 to 10.
Now on its third iteration held during the Founders celebrations, the sport competition featured men and women’s volleyball and pickleball, men’s basketball, and mixed ultimate frisbee.
According to SUSG SportsComm Chairperson Aishea Yonson, they presented pickleball, a paddle sport event, this year because of its growing trend in the campus..
“Last school year, we only had three games, which were volleyball, mixed frisbee, and basketball. Pero this school year kay upat na, ni dungag mig pickleball since pickleball is such a hype right now,” Yonson shared.
The committee and SU Athletics Department also inaugurated the sport as a competition during the Intramurals 2025 last February.
Student organizations rejoining this year were SU Aggies Club, Junior Financial Executives (SUJFINEX), Ang Sandigan, Philippines Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), College of Nursing Association, Junior Marketing Association (SUJMA), and Junior Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Slots expanded
Yonson mentioned that they expanded the usual eight slots per event into ten due to the increased number of competing teams and the added sport.
“Amoang slots before, eight slots [per event] ra to, dayon galisud mig fill up ato last school year, karon kay daghan kay nangapil. Karon, ni extend mig 10 [slots] kay daghan kay ni sulti na ‘apila mi, apila mi,’” she shared.
[Our slots before, it was just eight slots per event, and then we struggled to fill those up last school year. Now, since a lot joined, we extended to 10 slots per event since a lot shared that they wanted to join.]
The SU History-Political Science Society, Medical Technology Society (MTSOC), Chemical Society, School of Public Affairs and Governance Society, and Business Analytics Student Society made their debuts this year.
Meanwhile, the American Concrete Institute of the Philippines (ACIP), SU Junior Philippines Pharmacists Association, Medical School Association, Junior Philippine Institute of Accountancy, and Beta Epsilon also played in the competition.
Winning teams
The SUSG SportsComm officially announced the winning teams for each competition during the Hibalag Booth Festival awarding ceremony last Aug. 29.
The MTSOC was hailed champion in women’s volleyball, while the Aggies Club clinched gold for men’s basketball.
Kelsey Dawn Piansay, team representative of the MTSOC women’s volleyball team, said they chose to push through with their preparations for the Hibalag Cup despite their hectic schedules.
“So nag [wonder] ba mi if magpadayon ba mi or not, but we chose to push through jud because this is our first time, and sayang pud among mga preparations, since June gaprepare na jud mi,” she revealed.
[We wondered if we should continue joining or not, but we chose to push through especially because this is our first time, and it would be a waste of our preparations since we were already preparing since June.]
Rhod Zedric Duran, team captain of the Aggies Club men’s basketball team, also shared that they played tune-up games with other organizations to prepare since they didn’t have enough time for regular training.
“These matches helped us prepare and build chemistry as a team. It was a great way to get to know each other better and improve our coordination on the court. We just trusted each other’s abilities and always reminded ourselves that teamwork makes the dream work,” he said.
Other winning teams included the PICE and ACIP in men’s pickleball, SUJFINEX in men’s volleyball, SUJMA in mixed ultimate frisbee, and ACIP in women’s pickleball.
