MANILA, Philippines – Ramil de Jesus, the UAAP’s most decorated coach, made history as he led De La Salle University to its 10th straight finals appearance. 

But De Jesus said “nothing has changed” even though he now holds the longest finals appearance streak in the Final 4 era of the women’s volleyball tournament.

He credits the achievement to his players, who showed on court that they’re bent on advancing to the finals. 

“Wala namang bago kasi kung ano man ‘yung narating ng team ngayon, siguro dahil na rin sa mga players kasi gusto nila ‘yun,” said De Jesus. 

(Nothing has changed because whatever the current team has achieved, I guess that’s what the players wanted.) 

Lady Spikers veterans Kim Dy and Dawn Macandili have been training under De Jesus even when they were still playing for De La Salle Zobel. As their UAAP careers are nearly coming to an end, they are highly motivated to show what they have learned from De Jesus by bringing home a 3rd straight championship. 

“Siyempre we want to show coach na sa 5 years namin dito [DLSU], these are the players that you produced. We want to honor him,” said Dy

(Of course we want to show coach that in our 5 years in DLSU, these are the players that you produced. We want to honor him.) 

“Siyempre ayaw namin mag-graduate na may regrets, so ibibigay na namin lahat,” added Macandili. 

(Of course we don’t want to graduate with any regrets, so we want to give our all.) 

Ramil de Jesus also revealed that he has shared emotional moments with both Dy and Macandili. Sometimes, the 3 of them will reminisce about the players’ high school days, as De Jesus was able to watch his two players mature and grow on and off the court. 

“So ‘di maiiwasan na… eto medyo mababa ang luha ng isa diyan eh [Kim Dy], so, naiiyak na nga kapag ganun na nababalikan ‘yung mga memories, so ‘yun lang kasi medyo matagal ang pinagsamahan kasi,” recalled De Jesus. 

(We can’t avoid it, but cry as we recall our memories, especially this crybaby we have here [Kim Dy] because we have been through a lot together.)

The DLSU Lady Spikers will begin the last stretch of their title defense against the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws on Saturday, April 28, at the Araneta Coliseum. – Rappler.com