TAKING center stage in the UAAP Season 87 women’s volleyball finals are two of the sport’s most decorated head coaches today in National U’s Sherwin Meneses and La Salle's Ramil de Jesus.
READ: Bella Belen to be named UAAP MVP for the third time in four years
Seven-time PVL champion Meneses holds the distinction of being the winningest coach in the pros with 176 wins in 216 matches (81.48 percent win rate) with Creamline.
RDJ, on the other hand, racked up 321 wins and 90 losses to amass an unparalleled 78.1 percent success rate as a 12-time UAAP champion with 21 finals appearances over the last 28 years.
If there’s anything Meneses aims to mimic in terms of how de Jesus’ coaching tenure has played out over the years, it’s more than just the wins and titles per se.
What the National U-slash-Creamline shot-caller hopes to have at his disposal is RDJ and La Salle’s strong recruitment game in years and seasons past.
Only then can Meneses build a college dynasty that could even come close to de Jesus’s near-three decade run at the helm in Taft.
“Ang La Salle naman talaga ever since, talagang lahat ng recruitment napupunta sa kanila. Yung magandang mga materyales talaga ng players, talagang laging nasa kanila,” Meneses said.
At least for the immediate future, the National U coach believes that the school is starting to be on par with the likes of La Salle in strengthening their grassroots program.
And the specific items on his wishlist for the Lady Bulldogs? Height and skill.
“’Yung NU, talagang humahabol din sa recruitment.,” he said.
“Masaya ako kasi nakaharap natin si coach Ramil [de Jesus]. Sana makakuha rin kami ng mga ganung matatangkad ngayon sa recruitment namin sa NU para makasabay kami sa kanila."
Can Coach She close out RDJ?
The immediate task at hand for Meneses before he could even put his mind into recruiting players soon is to finish off the championship series against La Salle as soon as possible.
National U's first crack to secure back-to-back titles will be this Wednesday in Game 2 of the best-of-three title duel, 5 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Up 1-0 in the series, Meneses isn't letting his or the team's guard down with the full understanding of what RDJ and a fellow champion team like the Lady Spikers are still capable of.
"Lagi naman after games, lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila na 'yung close out talaga ang pinakamahirap. Pati nga yung second set [sa Game 1], sabi ko sa kanila, talagang kailangan magpakapagod lang kami at magfocus sa ginagawa namin.
"Pinakamahalaga ngayon is 'di ka mawala sa focus na 'okay nakuha nila yung third set, recover lang palagi'. Volleyball naman is recover naman talaga lagi and hopefully, lesson sa'min yung nangyari [sa Set 3 na nakuha ng La Salle]."
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