MANIFESTING, it turns out, does work wonders.
From the very first game of UAAP Season 88, La Salle captain Shevana Laput spoke like someone convinced redemption was coming to Taft Ave.
READ: All of La Salle believes it's high time to take back crown
On the heels of the Lady Spikers' opening-day sweep of Far Eastern University back in February, Laput boldly declared that after finishing third then second the last two years, there was only one place left for her and her teammates to go.
"It shows that we're a team that wants to win, that wants to redeem ourselves. We've come third, we've come second, it only makes sense we come first now," Laput said back then.
At the time, it sounded like sheer confidence. Three months later, those words read like prophecy.
La Salle ended its campaign the same way it started it: with a statement sweep, only this time against erstwhile two-time defending champion and modern-day rival National U in the finals to punctuate only the third 16-0 perfect run in league history.
Work hard, play hard
With Laput, Angel Canino, and Amie Provido anchoring a largely intact core, belief in these Lady Spikers was as high as it ever was entering the tournament, carrying both expectations and unfinished business after falling short in Seasons 86 and 87.
Still, nothing was guaranteed at all.
Even with Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon gone from the Lady Bulldogs, the road back to even just the title series was never expected to be easy, especially with FEU and University of Santo Tomas still around and Shaina Nitura and Adamson coming fast.
But from Day 1, Laput insisted La Salle never lost sight of what it wanted.
“For us, we were sure. We knew that we could get this. We manifested it. But more than that, we worked hard for it. Every single day, we worked toward that,” she said after also copping Finals MVP honors.
“We were so focused on our goal. There is no other thing on our mind except getting that championship, getting that 13th championship for coach [Ramil] de Jesus. Ever since the end of last season, we had that one goal and we worked hard, stayed disciplined for that.”
And fittingly enough, the same skipper who opened the season with a promise also closed it by declaring that promise fulfilled.
As she put it, “We made a promise at the beginning of this season, and this is us fulfilling that promise.”
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