By MARK REY MONTEJO
In a not so distant past, La Salle ruled the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament with iron fist.
With coach Ramil de Jesus at the helm and stars like Iris Ortega, Desiree Hernandez, Manilla Santos, Abby Maraño, Ara Galang, and Kim Dy leading the charge in those golden years, the Lady Spikers won multiple titles including completing three-peat – thrice.
They first accomplished the feat from UAAP Seasons 66–68 (2003–2005), repeated it from Seasons 73–75 (2010–2012), and then completed their final three-peat from Seasons 78–80 (2016–2018).
Not only that, La Salle is also a proud holder of the longest winning streak in the league at 30 games.
But their reign came to an end during the time of Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez and Bella Belen of National University – one after another.
But slowly but surely, brick by brick, the Lady Archers are back in the limelight after winning the title three years ago – thanks to a new collegiate phenom named Angel Canino.
So awesome was Canino she joined an elite club after winning both the rookie and MVP awards.
After falling short the past two seasons, the Lady Spikers appear heading North once again, perhaps on the way to the Promised Land as they swept the first round of elims capped by a four-set win over NU – the very team that denied them a back-to-back two years back.
After a 25–21, 25–19, 19–25, 25–17 win over the Lady Bulldogs at the jam-packed Mall of Asia Arena Sunday, March 15, Canino said this season could be the Lady Spikers’ best shot at reclaiming the crown.
Canino has experienced it all after giving her all, only to see her squad fall short in back-to-back seasons, bowing out in Season 86 semifinals against University of Santo Tomas and in last year’s finals to NU.
“So kaming mga seniors, pinapangako talaga namin na pagpasok sa court, gusto namin ipakilala kung sino kami, gusto namin magkaroon ulit kami ng statement sa mga kalaban namin,” said Canino.
“Matagal na namin ‘tong inaantay at ayaw na naming palampasin pa ‘yong moment na ‘to, kasi ‘to na ang time, wala ng ibang time para maipakita sa ibang tao, once again Lady Spikers kami, lahat ng values na nando’n… dito na makikita this Season 88,” she added.
Indeed, as the De Jesus-mentored crew cruised into a 7-0 tally heading into the second half of the competition – the last time La Salle achieved the similar run was in Season 85, where it ultimately hoisted the crown.
It was the last time the crown – its 12th overall – was delivered at Taft.
“Hardwork talaga sa lahat ng mga kalaban namin, pinapakita lang namin ‘yong best namin araw-araw, lalo na per game, kasi malaki rin ‘yong hugot namin as a team,” Canino continued.
Aside from Angel Canino, Shevana Laput and Amie Provido also delivered the firepower, helping the Lady Spikers spoil Sam Cantada’s outing and hand the Lady Bulldogs a 5-2 record in the standings.
“Of course, we have to play with ‘hugot’ against this team… of course this [win] means a lot to us, coming into the game, we knew that this is our time, this is our season, it’s now,” said Laput, who topscored anew with 19 points.
Canino ably backed Laput with 14 apart from providing the intangibles to the team.
“We let them have their time, but now it’s time for us to step up and rise to the occasion, and do what we know, what we could do, we are just a championship level team… we have to earn it and work for it,” Laput added.
