HEAD COACH: JP Yude
LAST SEASON: 6-8 (5th)
LAST PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: Season 85 (2022-23)
LAST CHAMPIONSHIP: N/A
CHAMPIONSHIPS: 0
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SOMETIMES, all it takes is one cornerstone to change a program’s narrative.
Adamson found that pillar in Shaina Nitura.
At just 21, the outside hitter didn’t merely arrive in San Marcelino, she also took over right away.
In UAAP Season 87, Nitura delivered a rookie campaign unlike anything seen before, routinely torching defenses and rewriting both school and league record books along the way.
Almost overnight, the Lady Falcons were no longer an afterthought, but a team capable of dreaming about the Final Four - and perhaps even more.
Still, one spark, no matter how bright, rarely builds a contender overnight.
Nitura’s historic year was supported by flashes from Nigerian winger Frances Mordi and the steady orchestration of setter Fhei Sagaysay, yet the white-and-blue's season ultimately became a collection of near-misses.
Five-set heartbreaks and narrow losses piled up, games that could have swung their campaign toward the top four instead anchoring them in the lower half of the standings.
Now, with a full year of experience behind them, the question becomes whether that promise can finally mature into something tangible.
Shaina's rookie year for the ages
Nitura was the story of Season 87, full stop.
She closed the year with a staggering 371 total points, averaging 26.5 per game, the highest output in the women’s division since Alyssa Valdez’s legendary run in Season 77.
Only UST’s Mark Alfafara came close in recent memory across both divisions.
Her collegiate debut alone set the tone: 33 points in a five-set opening-day win over Ateneo, establishing a new rookie scoring benchmark.
That performance proved no fluke as Nitura went on to post six 30-point games, splitting them evenly between wins and painful losses that highlighted just how thin Adamson’s margin for error was.
Heading into Season 88, the Lady Falcons’ lineup figures to look largely familiar. The difference is that Nitura won’t be the same player she was a year ago.
Since then, she has gained invaluable international exposure with Alas Pilipinas, competing in regional tournaments and growing into one of the youngest regulars in the national team pool.
With that came sharper instincts, better composure and a more vocal presence that could elevate her impact beyond raw scoring.
Sharing the limelight
For all of Nitura’s dominance, Season 87 also exposed Adamson’s biggest dilemma.
Head coach JP Yude was quite candid late last year: when you have a spiker that efficient, you keep feeding her.
At times, that meant Nitura taking well over 100 attempts in a single match which might be an understandable strategy, but one that also made the Lady Falcons increasingly predictable.
That only goes to show that at the highest level, such a formula has a ceiling.
True contenders don’t survive on a single outlet, no matter how elite.
And to take the next step, Adamson must find ways to distribute responsibility, unlock secondary scorers, and ease the burden on their star without dulling her edge.
Season 88, then, isn’t about whether Shaina Nitura can shine again, as she almost certainly will.
It’s about whether the Lady Falcons can finally turn individual brilliance into collective threat.
Only then can Adamson move from exciting to truly dangerous.
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Read up on what to expect from the other teams in UAAP Season 88 here:
UE UAAP 88 PREVIEW: Is there anything to look forward to for Lady Warriors?
ATENEO UAAP 88 PREVIEW: Blue Eagles remain upbeat for return to relevance
UP UAAP 88 PREVIEW: 'CAL Girls' should be undeniable for Maroons to be in the fight
FEU UAAP 88 PREVIEW: Lady Tams got grand plans of going 30 for 30
UST UAAP 88 PREVIEW: Tigresses all-in in Shaq-ing the system
LA SALLE UAAP 88 PREVIEW: All set or not, here come Angel-Shev-Amie anew for Lady Spikers
NU UAAP 88 PREVIEW: Who said Lady Bulldogs golden age is over?
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