La Salle regains swagger with empathic win over Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines – There was something missing from the DLSU Lady Spikers over the past year. The confidence, the calculated arrogance, the “nobody-can-beat us” approach that they became so known for, making them such a supreme force on the UAAP volleyball court – it wasn’t there.

Is that weird to hear? Sure. They did finish Season 77’s eliminations with an impressive 12-2 record, and who knows if they could have given Ateneo a better challenge in the one-sided finals if Ara Galang’s knee didn’t give out during that victory against NU that changed everything.

But it was still a different La Salle team, all throughout the season. Those weren’t the Lady Spikers which inserted fear in opponents like in the days of Stephanie Mercado, Cha Cruz, and Aby Marano. And if you ask DLSU fans, some would have probably said that aura was no longer present. Or at least, not with this cast.

Well, it didn’t take long for Mika Reyes and company to prove otherwise.

“I’ve seen their swag. After I graduated, they were just starting to establish it. There was some shyness to express emotion. But now they’re all seniors, there’s no shyness. The motivation is there,” Marano said in Tagalog after the Lady Spikers put on a volleyball clinic on Saturday, February 27, which sent a clear message across the UAAP: 

La Salle is back.

3 sets. That’s all it took for DLSU to break a 6-game losing streak to the Lady Eagles. With fantastic defense, aggressive offense, and some help from Ateneo’s errors, the Lady Spikers put a dent in the Lady Eagles’ reputation of invincibility, snapping a 24-game winning streak which some figured would continue unbroken as long as Alyssa Valdez donned the blue and white.

“Our plan really was to bring back the confidence of the team,” said DLSU head coach Ramil De Jesus in Filipino.

From the fundamentals of the game up to the after-point celebrations, it was all La Salle from start to finish. Valdez scored 11 points, which is good, but a far cry from the usual 20-plus point outbursts she’s posted against DLSU over the years. No one else reached 10 points. La Salle shut down a team which entering the game had lost only one out of 19 sets.

Led by Reyes, La Salle’s defense on the net was impenetrable. Over and over again, Jia Morada tried to set up teammates for scoring opportunities, only the ball either sailed out of bounds or came back thanks to solid receiving and blocking by their rivals.

Over and over again.

On the other end, La Salle was as balanced as they’ve been all season. Kim Fajardo was a beast, putting up a stat-line of 13 points – 7 on service aces alone – plus 16 excellent sets. Mary Baron and Ara Galang posted 10 points each. Mika Reyes had 9, and was as intimidating a force as she’s been over the last two seasons.

“I guess for me, as a senior, I need to show my teammates and the younger ones that they shouldn’t be afraid,” she said in Tagalog post-game.

Afraid? Maybe she was last year, especially during those crucial stretches against the team that stopped them from a 4-peat in the 2014 finals. 

Now, not so much. Her game has improved. Her demeanor? Even better.

In the second set of Saturday’s match, which DLSU surprisingly dominated 25-14, Reyes met Valdez at the apex of her athletic prowess and sent the UAAP MVP’s feared spike sailing back as she fell to the floor. It was two of the college game’s best duelling at the peak of their abilities. Only this time, the one in green had the last laugh.

What happened after? An emotional celebration seen and heard around the country, from the thousands at The Big Dome to the millions watching at home. 

“We really earned that point,” Reyes said later on about the ecstatic celebrations of La Salle after every made conversion – something absent last year as well.

“That’s what I’m going to say. If you earned that point, celebrate it, because we worked really hard for that, even if there’s luck involved or not.”

In many ways, Reyes looked like Marano. Remember Aby Marano? The emotional captain and voice of those Lady Spikers. The one whose boisterous methods annoyed opponents but somehow always rallied the La Salle faithful, making her a fan-favorite for years.

“I’ve seen her since she wasn’t able to convert a service. Her hits were still lazy. She couldn’t block. But now you can see the fruit of all of her hard work. For a senior, that makes me very proud,” Marano said about Reyes’ development.

Whether you ask an alumni or a former Lady Spiker, La Salle looked like La Salle again, and it’s been quite a while. The swagger they were so known for, that unrelenting confidence, at least in those 3 sets against Ateneo, were back and in full display. 

“Yes, it’s part of our team,” Reyes said post-game, while fans pushed and rushed for opportunities at selfies. “La Salle is known for that.”

“We need it because it can boost our morale,” said Galang in Tagalog, after looking at her best since the ACL and MCL tears. “It can lift our confidence.”

“I guess it’s because we need it more,” she said about the extra emotion. “ That’s what we lacked for the past year, so that’s one of the improvements we need to make.”

But more than DLSU displaying it can even outplay Ateneo at the highest level, they established two things: these Lady Eagles are beatable. And more important, there would be no season sweep. No thrice-to-beat advantages in the finals.

“It’s a big thing, because for other teams, they can get hope that they can do it. If La Salle can do it, so can they. Whether it’s UE, whether it’s Adamson, or UP, they can get hope, because there’s no sweep,” said Marano.

“It’s also an advantage for other teams, and of course, for us, that no team will sweep,” explained Reyes. “And, at least, after how many years, after how many games, we finally beat them.”

The thing about Ateneo’s unblemished 16-0 campaign last season is that there was such an aura of greatness about the Lady Eagles that teams questioned “can we beat them?” even before games started. That intimidation gave Valdez and company an edge before a game rally would even take place, which was followed by sheer dominance.

But this year is different. Ace libero Denden Lazaro has graduated, and Ateneo has yet to recover from the absence of her defensive prowess. Jhoanna Maraguinot has displayed great potential, but outside of her and Valdez, there’s a question if the Lady Eagles can get consistent scoring production from others when they need it most.

It’s easier for the predator to hunt its prey once it’s been wounded, especially psychologically. For two years now, Ateneo has been the hunted, and before any other team can even take its crown, the belief that they’re unbeatable first had to be lifted.

This doesn’t mean the Lady Eagles are bound to finally fall.

Valdez is still the best volleyball player in this country today, pro or college. How she will bounce back from a loss after a near two-year winning streak will be interesting to see.

If I had to wager a guess, she’ll be back even better, and the same goes for Ateneo. Nothing motivates a team for victory in sports more than losing. And for a team already this talented, adding even more motivation can be humongous – especially in the quest for a third straight championship.

But on this day, it’s La Salle which celebrates while Ateneo goes back to the drawing board. “For La Salle to be able to defeat the champions, that’s a huge thing so that the respect for them returns,” Marano said in Tagalog. 

On Saturday, the Lady Spikers just won the battle. But in the process, they regained their swagger, which is what they need if they want to eventually win the war. – Rappler.com