THREE years ago, the UAAP Season 84 women’s volleyball tournament experienced an upheaval that put the league on notice.
National U fielded its homegrown class of A-list rookies that went on to complete a historic 16-game sweep of the season to win the team’s first title in 65 years.
Completing their unlikely conquest was a two-game shutout of the dynastic La Salle Lady Spikers, marking the school’s eighth title series loss under Ramil de Jesus’ two-decade tutelage.
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At the forefront of that game-changing Lady Bulldogs core? Bella Belen, the UAAP’s first-ever women’s volleyball rookie-MVP.
From there, it was as if no other team can get on par — let alone outmatch — Jhocson’s dynasty in the making.
Then came an ace winger in Angel Canino for the green-and-white.
And the rest was history.
La Salle exacted sweet revenge on NU by taking the defending champions down a year later in the Season 85 finals.
It was a triumphant campaign led by the league’s second women’s volleyball rookie-MVP in Canino, as the Lady Spikers all but one of their 16 matches.
Never shall they fail
In a rare occasion where a La Salle team was the clear-cut underdog to an emerging National U powerhouse, how did the Taft towers put a stop to the earlygoings of Belen & Co.’s tdominance?
Two of the Lady Spikers’ Season 85 senior fixtures in best outside spiker Jolina dela Cruz and now-Alas Pilipinas middle blocker Fifi Sharma took a trip down memory lane on how they pulled off ‘mission impossible’ to cap their collegiate swan songs.
For Sharma’s part, it was a matter of overlooking the odds and holding fort as a team even in those times when they were clouded by doubts and adversities.
“The biggest thing that we exercised during that season was our trust with each other. Whatever happened, whatever obstacle came our way, we made sure to just trust each other and to put each other on the right path,” Sharma said.
“Siyempre, malaking bagay yung leadership nila ate Jolina pati nila ate Mars [Alba] kasi sila talaga yung nag-pioneer sa’min sa finals nu’ng Season 85.”
Meanwhile, dela Cruz shed light on the unsung heroes of that championship run — the green-and-white’s second stringers.
In a team that had super seniors in dela Cruz, Alba, Sharma, three-time best middle blocker Thea Gagate, and Alas setter Julia Coronel, the Season 85 second unit-turned-Season 87 frontliners played game-changing roles in backing their ‘ates’ to championship glory.
“[Malaking bagay] ‘yung trust sa second stringers din. May mga times din na nagpapalitan ng mga players and sobrang thankful kami na may mga pumapalit sa’min na talagang reliable,” dela Cruz said.
“Sana mangyari din ‘yun sa finals [this year].”
Fight to keep La Salle’s glory bright
Once carrying the bulk of offense, dela Cruz reminded the current crop of Lady Spikers to live and uphold the La Salle brand of volleyball that has made the school a formidable unit all these years.
It’s that de Jesus-led system that has paved the way for their ‘ates’ to thrive in the pros, and it will be that same system that will lift the new generation of Lady Spikers back to collegiate volleyball supremacy.
“They should remember who they are, kung sino yung coach nila, kung sino yung mga dumaan kay coach Ramil,” dela Cruz said.
“’Yung iba diyan, napagdaanan na rin kung paano mag-champion. Lagi nilang tatandaan na yung sistema ni coach Ramil, sobrang ganda. ‘Wag nilang sasayangin yun.
“Hopefully, makuha nila Games 1 and 2 […] and let’s pray na sana makuha [yung championship]. Animo La Salle!”
Winning La Salle that 13th title in Sharma’s view will be all about embodying their commitment to bring the crown back to Taft the very moment they set foot on the taraflex come Game 1.
“I think all they have to do is just play their game, stick to the level of their training and just do their best because this is the UAAP Finals. It really demands the best of you,” Sharma said.
“I guess for them, just play their game. If they’ve been training as hard as they say they are, then they’re gonna win regardless. They just have to prepare mentally and physically.”
Another Lady Spikers champion in Kianna Dy added: "We all know naman na NU is a strong team and La Salle as well. They just have to give their all, they just have to work as a team and listen to coach Ramil."
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