MANILA, Philippines – The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles plan to soar higher, propelled by no less than a championship high.
The Lady Eagles, still on cloud nine after they copped their first UAAP Women’s Volleyball championship last March 15, will be participating in the First Conference of the 11th season of renowned volleyball tourney Shakey’s V-League, which starts on Sunday, March 23.
Team manager Tony Boy Liao said the team is looking forward to playing in the league and carrying their high morale and momentum with them.
“We’ll play in the V-League,” he said following the Lady Eagles’ Cinderella run in Season 76 of the UAAP. “Siguro ngayon very high morale yan.” (Right now their morale is very high.)
The First Conference will feature 12 teams for the first time in the V-League’s history. Apart from Ateneo, other schools participating include National University, University of Perpetual Help, University of Santo Tomas, San Sebastian College-Recoletos, College of St. Benilde, Arellano University, Adamson University, Cebu’s Southwestern University, St. Louis University of Baguio and Davao Lady Agilas.
Teams are dividied into two blocks with Ateneo playing in Block A.
Ateneo, who is undergoing a rebuilding process after the graduation of their Fab Five (Fille Cainglet, Gretchen Ho, Dzi Gervacio, Jem Ferrer and A Nacachi) last year, defied all odds and went way past meager expectations of them to thwart the 4-peat dreams of rivals De La Salle University Lady Spikers.
Led by Season 76 Most Valuable Player Alyssa Valdez, the girls from Katipunan survived 3 straight do-or-die matces before they eventually snapped La Salle’s 30-game win streak dating back to Season 75. They tarnished La Salle’s undefeated record from the eliminations and went on to complete their upset with a highly unexpected 3-set victory in the deciding Game 4.
(SEE: IN PHOTOS: Ateneo defeats La Salle to become UAAP Volleyball Queens)
The huge boost in the Lady Eagles’ confidence will be a a difference-maker for them in the V-League, especially now that they are suddenly tagged as contenders after their stirring UAAP run.
Though Liao says circumstances aren’t so ideal for Ateneo, who is seeking their third V-League championship.
“Ang problema namin sa V-League ngayon mayroon kaming mga senior players (Valdez, Ahomiro, De Jesus, Lazaro, Faustino), puro sila may OJT (on-the-job training),” he explained. “So hindi makaka-ensayo. Baka nga hindi makalaro palagi because of the OJT.” (Our problem for the V-League right now is we have senior players who have OJTs. So they can’t train. They might not even play all the time because of OJT.)
The silver lining, however, is the V-League’s First Conference format allows at most two guest players per team, with one foreign guest player. Ateneo will be beefing up its roster with Bea De Leon and Japanese volleybelle Risa Sato.
Our Guest Players for V-League: Risa Sato – 6’0 middle & Bea De Leon – 5’11 open. See you on Sunday @ San Juan against Adamson at 2 PM! #OBF
— Ateneo Lady Eagles (@ADMU_WVT) March 18, 2014
“Kami naman we understand eh,” Liao added. “Kasama sa curriculum yun eh. Kailangan nilang tapusin yun.” (We understand. It’s part of the curriculum. They need to finish that.)
No pressure play continues
According to Valdez, their successful Season 76 campaign can be attributed to the fact that they were constantly under the radar all season long and the bar was set low for them due to their rookie-laden roster.
“Siguro nag-work sa amin yung no pressure. Kasi hindi ba last year expected din ng mga tao na mag-Finals. Eh this year no one talaga,” the 20-year old team captain explained.
“So wala sa amin pressure and coming pa sa coaches, na sasabihin nila na proud sila samin, siyempre magkakaroon ka ng confidence and tiwala sa sarili mo na you can do better every game and you can still improve your game.”
(Maybe having no pressure worked for us. Last year everyone expected we would be in the Finals. This year, no one did. So there’s no pressure on us and coming from the coaches, them telling us they’re proud of us, of course you’ll gain confidence and faith in yourself that you can do better every game and you can still improve your game.)
That kind of attitude and mindset on the court is something they hope to continue doing for the V-League. Despite being early favorites following their first UAAP title, the Lady Eagles still like to think the pressure is not on them.
(READ: Nothing to lose, everything to win for Ateneo Lady Eagles)
Ateneo’s go-to player on offense also credited their coach’s training, which she admits burned her down every day but resulted to plenty more ammunition for her attacks – and even more powerful and accurate ones at that.
“Yung training din ni coach Tai talaga. Sobrang hard din talaga. And yung resulta din naman ng training niya sobrang okay din naman.” (It’s just Coach Tai’s training. It’s very hard. And the results of that training are great.)
‘Happy’ coach Tai stays
The coach who steered the Lady Eagles to victory this season, Thai coach Anusorn “Tai” Bundit, 46, will also be back to continue what he started for the Ateneo crew.
“When I talked to him ang initial na usapan namin (our initial deal was) 5 months,” Liao shared how they landed Bundit, who also coaches in the Thailand University League. He said Bundit himself offered to test the waters for a month and see if he can turn things around for Ateneo, who was seeking a new mentor after Roger Gorayeb’s departure.
At just the third week of training, Bundit saw potential in the team but asked for more time, extending his stay to two months. They never looked back from there.
“Bilib ako hindi siya after the pera na ibabayad ko,” Liao said of the Thai coach, who was so impressed by the sport’s reception in the Philippines comapred to Thailand. “Doon siya sa pag hindi mo nagustuhan ng isang buwan yung ginagawa ko, pauwiin mo akong Bangkok.” (I am impressed he’s not after the money I will pay him. He was more concerned about if I did not like what he was doing for a month, I should send him home.)
Bundit’s style of coaching – a mix of hard training and an abundance of encouragement and motivation through actions – proved highly effective for Ateneo.
“Pag nakikita namin na hindi na tumatakbo si coach Tai, down na kami,” Valdez shared the team’s perspective. “Pero pag tumatakbo siya, go, push.” (When we don’t see coach Tai running along the sidelines, we feel down. But when he’s running, we push some more.)
She added: “Kahit anong mangyari kasi si coach Tai hindi siya magsasawa na i-push ka and sasabihin sayo na you’re a good player. So bakit ikaw sa sarili mo magda-doubt ‘di ba? Kung yung coach mo nagtitiwala sayo. So malaking factor yun sayo as a player.”
(Whatever happens coach Tai never gets tired of pushing you and telling you that you’re a good player. So why would you doubt yourself if your coach trusts you? That’s a big factor as a player.)
Liao also pointed out how Bundit’s actions resonate best with the team, considering the language barrier, which makes it difficult for Bundit to string together instructions in English.
“Yung players, every time na may good point, gusto ng players nakikita na inspired siya. Kaya itong mga bata, nai-inspire din.” (Every time there’s a good point, the players like to see him inspired. In turn, the players get inspired as well.)
For Bundit, who believes the Philippine quality of volleyball can compete internationally, the important thing is to have faith that anything is possible. This he was able to communicate to the Lady Eagles with a few simple yet powerful words.
“If you believe, you can. You play happy. If you believe, you win,” he said.
‘This is just the beginning’
Season 76 and the V-League’s First Conference is, according to Liao, only just the beginning.
Of the entire Lady Eagles roster, only Natasha Faustino will be graduating. Valdez, while she will already be finishing up her AB Psychology major, still has two playing years to continue impressing everybody. Libero Denden Lazaro still has one playing year. Liao says she will be pursuing Medicine. Another veteran Ella de Jesus still has a year left as well.
This means the core of this champion team will be back next season once again, albeit much more mature, hungrier, more experienced and having been groomed by Bundit for more than a year already.
“Sabi ko maybe this is just the beginning. Meron kaming recruits na malalaki na papasok next year, first year,” Liao said. “Tuwang tuwa nga si Tai nung nakita niya yung mga recruits kaya sabi nga niya kailangan matuloy-tuloy natin ‘to. Kasi what more if mag-training pa kami with him? We only started August (2013) eh.”
(I said maybe this is just the beginning. We have big recruits coming in next year, first year. Tai was quite happy when he saw the recruits that’s why he said we must continue this. What more if we train longer with him? We only started last August.)
Just who these new recruits are, Liao won’t reveal just yet.
“Wag muna natin sabihin, baka masulot pa ng ibang eskwela.” (Let’s not reveal it just yet, other schools might take interest in them.)
The V-League, which started in 2004 and was a vital contributor to boosting the sport locally over the past decade, will open the First Conference of Season 11 on Sunday with Ateneo scheduled to go up against the Adamson University Lady Falcons for the first game at 2PM. The second game to be played at 4PM will feature a clash between the National University Lady Bulldogs and the Perpetual Help Lady Altas. Games will be played at the Arena in San Juan.
Ateneo won V-League championships during the Season 8 First Conference (2011) and the Season 9 First Conference (2012). And with this young, fresh and highly motivated lineup, they want to keep on winning with another championship.
“Pwede ko masabing naka-tsamba kami dito (UAAP) so high morale yung mga bata,” Liao said. “So sa tingin ko pupukpok at pupukpok din yan sa V-League.” (I can say we got lucky here in the UAAP so the players have high morale. So I think they will work very hard during the V-League.) – Rappler.com
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