TAFT TOWER
Angel Canino, with all the achievements she’s gotten in her young career, has been the face of La Salle’s volleyball program the past couple of seasons.
But the success of the Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball tournament can’t be credited to her alone.
Shevana Laput, the late-blooming opposite hitter, has been on the rise for La Salle, consistently making her own mark with significant contributions to the team’s success.
“It’s an honor [to be one of the top hitters in the league],” Laput told the Inquirer after helping lead La Salle past Ateneo, 25-21, 25-17, 25-20, in the latest installment to their storied—yet recently one-sided—rivalry on Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Laput, one of the projected stalwarts listed in Alas Pilipinas’ wishlist, has formed a lethal 1-2 punch with Canino to lift La Salle to one of the two most desired positions in the league.
The Taft-based squad sits at No. 2 with a 7-3 record after an uncharacteristically slow start to this season. The top two squads at the end of the elimination round will have twice-to-beat protection in the Final Four.
But Laput is not dwelling on her own achievements. She wants to achieve something much bigger than herself.
“What I care about is that we get that championship,” she said. “Because I’ve seen the effort and work of everyone of us have put in so it’s certainly right that we get to that goal.”
“It doesn’t really matter about the personal awards and all that,” the third-year hitter added.
After 10 games, Laput has accumulated a total of 171 points, scoring only in single digits against La Salle’s win against University of the East in the first round. Her rise has been phenomenal, to say the least, considering she used to be a track and field standout and started competitive volleyball relatively late.
But her status as one of the more reliable scorers in the league has certainly boosted the Lady Spikers.
‘Hugot’
And as she says, the team has a deep emotional reason for wanting to win this year and that has been the driving force to her putting up notable performances throughout the season.
“I just want to be an ate (older sister). I just want to help our team. I want us to bawi (bounce back),” Laput said. “We have a big hugot [from] last year not being able to get into the Finals after being champions in our rookie year.”
“Hugot” is a Filipino slang that refers to drawing strength, inspiration or memory from deep within.
“We just want to bring that back and I just wanna help and contribute in such a big way,” she added, referring to the title that she and Canino, the second Rookie-MVP in league history, helped clinch back in Season 85.
La Salle reached the Finals two consecutive years before University of Santo Tomas washed away any hopes of the Lady Spikers going to another title bout in their semifinal battle last season.
“It’s both [a personal motivation as well as a team motivation] but personally I just care about this team and I want to see this team get the rewards that they deserve,” she said. “I suppose it’s both in a way like I am doing this for them.”
