SHEVANA Laput’s meteoric rise in the UAAP came with an unexpected beginning.
La Salle’s 21-year-old Fil-Australian captain opened Season 88 on a tear, unloading 23 points in the Lady Spikers’ sweep of FEU before dropping 22 more in their dominant win over UST over the weekend.
READ: La Salle scores second straight sweep at UST's expense
This season, the small white line beneath her jersey number underscores the growing weight of her leadership as team captain in what could be her penultimate, or even final, year with the Lady Spikers.
For a player now regarded as one of the league’s most lethal scorers, Laput revealed she was never meant to be a volleyball player in the first place.
Her journey to the taraflex began after she lost her passion for track and field, a turning point that redirected her athletic career in ways she never imagined.
READ: Shevana Laput surprised by her famly in maiden La Salle start
“Never, never. I never once thought that I would do volleyball,” Laput told SPIN.ph.
“The reason why I started doing volleyball was because I lost the passion for track and field. But then, I guess God works in wonderful ways and I’m here.”
Laput competed in multiple city-wide and international athletics competitions in track and field and long jump, including the 2017 All Schools Nationals in Adelaide, Australia and the International Athletics Championships in Singapore 2018 and Malaysia 2019.
She won the overall championship in the 2019 edition and silver in triple jump with a personal best of 10.93 meters a year prior.
But even after such successes, she came to terms with the fact that the world of athletics wasn't where she wanted to be in the long-term.
When the opportunity to shift to volleyball in her mother's homeland came, Laput embraced it despite the uncertainty, trusting that the leap could lead to something greater.
From the laid-back surroundings in her hometown of Perth to the fast-paced grind of Manila, Laput said the transition was made easier by the belief shown by those around her.
“It definitely helped having the support of my coaches, my teammates, that they had that belief in me,” she said.
Though already familiar with leadership roles from her time as a high school captain, guiding a collegiate program presented a different challenge altogether.
Now approaching the twilight of her college career, Laput carries with her a simple message she would tell her younger self with a beaming grin.
“You made the right decision.”
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