UAAP Volleyball: La Salle gunning for perfect season

MANILA, Philippines – With five games remaining in their calendar before the playoffs, De La Salle University is on the brink of a perfect elimination round as they notched their 9th Season 76 win at the expense of Adamson University on Saturday, January 25.

The Lady Spikers, however, still have a lot on its plate if they are to duplicate their feat from two years ago, when they swept the Season 74 eliminations en route to their 7th UAAP title.

The Taft Avenue crew is yet to face Far Eastern University (5-4) and National University (8-1) – two contenders in the running for a semifinal slot – in the second round, and coach Ramil de Jesus is keen not to waste their good start and wilt under the pressure later on.

“Hindi ko pwedeng bigyan ng kumpiyansa ang kalaban. Mahirap kasi kapag na-develop ‘yung confidence nila sa sarili, lalo na ‘yung mga teams sa top 4. Kaya hangga’t maaari, kung ‘di naglalaro ng maayos ang kalaban eh samantalahin,” the Lady Spikers head coach said shortly after whipping the Lady Falcons in straight sets.

(We don’t want our opponents to gain confidence. It will be harder for us once they find their poise, most especially those teams in the top 4. We will just capitalize on them while they are not yet playing in top form.)

Coach de Jesus’ wards are also on a 25-game UAAP winning streak which stretches all the way from early last season.

Winning is nothing new for the Lady Spikers as they only lost 4 times in the eliminations since the 71st season for a whopping 75-4 win-loss slate under de Jesus’ wing since 2008. La Salle went on to bring home the 2009 trophy and pull off a rare three-peat in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 seasons.

This season, La Salle is yet to lose a single set and the Lady Spikers mentor credits their hard work for that.

“Hindi kami nasasanay [manalo]. Lumalabas lang kung ano ang pinagpapraktisan,” the multi-titled coach told reporters in a post-game presscon on weekend. “Kung ano ang inaaral sa training, at kung sino ang kalaban, nakapag-execute lang ng tama ‘yung mga bata.”

(We are not getting used to winning. We are just reaping the fruits of our practice. Whatever we learn from our training, and depending on who we are facing, the girls are just able to execute well.)

De Jesus, however, admits that his squad is not an unbeatable one.
“Marami pa ring mistakes ang mga bata, lalo na ‘yung mga rookies. May mga dapat pa iimprove sa kanila.”

(There are still mistakes to be corrected, particularly by our rookies.)

With the National University Lady Bulldogs – who are currently just a game behind at 8-1 – breathing down their necks, La Salle is wary of the towering squad led by the Santiago sisters.

“Oo, alam natin ang big height advantage ng NU. Siguro ‘yung first round namin, masasabi kong swerte kami lalo na’t hindi pa masyado nag-gegel ang NU,” says de Jesus. “Baka itong second round, mag-gel na sila, tingnan natin kung hanggang saan kami aabot.”

(Yes, we are aware of NU’s big height advantage. In the first round, I can say we just got lucky since NU is only starting to gel as a team. This second round, however, they might have gelled already. Let us see how our team would fare against them.)

“Hindi ko naman masasabi na porke’t tinalo namin sila ng straight sets eh ‘di na sila mananalo sa amin.”

(Not because we beat them in straight sets automatically mean that they can’t beat us.)

As the season approaches its homestretch, the reigning champions will continue to bank on their reliables in team skipper Abi Marano,offensive specialist Ara Galang, and Mika Reyes on defense.

“Hahanapin na lang namin kung ano ang pwede mai-adjust pa. Lahat naman kasi ng team, nag-aadjust rin kung paano kami tatalunin,” de Jesus said.

(We’ll look for what else we can adjust in our team. Every team is making adjustments on how they can beat us.)

The Lady Spikers will return to action on Wednesday, January 29, against the Lady Tamaraws. – Rappler.com