Adapting to times helping La Salle stay dominant
Throughout volleyball’s evolution into what it is today, one thing has remained constant: La Salle has always been a team to reckon with in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.
And in Season 88, that hasn’t changed.
The Lady Spikers remain unbeaten in the ongoing tournament, proving that despite the influx of new talents and the rise of new contenders, the Taft-based squad will always be in the championship conversation.
“For me, every year, volleyball keeps evolving so I need to catch up [to the new things] so I don’t get left behind,” said long-time La Salle coach Ramil De Jesus. “If you get left behind at this level, you really get left behind.”
That need for the Lady Spikers to keep up with the new trends could spell trouble for Far Eastern University, which is in the thick of a brutal race for a Final Four slot.
Just recently, the Lady Tamaraws were tied with two other teams at 6-4 (win-loss) and now find themselves sandwiched between University of Santo Tomas and Adamson U. They take on the Lady Spikers at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at SM Mall of Asia Arena hoping to catch the Tigresses at 7-4 and stay within striking distance of defending champion National U, which is lodged at second place.
But it’s not going to be easy, even if La Salle has already locked up its 16th straight Final Four appearance.
De Jesus and his wards are doing everything to force the rest of the field into a stepladder Final Four to better their title chances.
“Whatever we have, we need to push it out. We have to bring out the players’ talents,” he said. “We have to make them work hard so they can bring out their potential and help the team.”
La Salle has relied, like it always does, on its blockers—this batch is led by Amie Provido. But it now has reliable setting courtesy of rookie Shan Nunag and a host of talented scorers like Angel Canino and Shevana Laput.
“We are focued on one game at a time, and whatever we need to do or change as a team, we will,” Canino said.
