Green Gallery: Lady Spiker Amanda Villanueva

After quitting her high school varsity team six years ago, Amanda Maria Villanueva feels no regrets returning to volleyball action.

She first started receiving and digging for volleyballs at the school intramurals and later opted for volleyball, a team sport that suited her personality.

An alumna of St. James Academy of Malabon, Villanueva is currently a sophomore AB-Sports Management student.

Now a part of the decorated DLSU Lady Spikers, this petite lass already showed glimpses of her skills as she, together with veteran volleybelle Charleen Cruz bagged home second honor merits in the recently concluded UAAP Beach Volleyball tournament, the highest finish achieved by the Lady Spikers since 2007.

The feat was no walk in the park as the tandem had to go through tough challenges provided by foes University of Sto. Tomas and Far Eastern University before dropping their date with the well-rested and eventual champions Adamson Lady Falcons.

Transition from indoor to beach volleyball did not go smoothly for Villanueva, as the latter demands more endurance and better ball reception, with the brazen sun and coarse sand serving as key factors.

After snatching the last Final Four slot in the Beach Volleyball tournament, she said that, “We left it all to God, if it’s His will, it’s [really] His will talaga.”

His will was indeed done.

Villanueva is evermore proud of her recent silver feat in the UAAP and her athletic scholarship in DLSU.  Aside from her blossoming volleyball career, she also aspires to be a flight attendant and to work in her aunt’s business firm.

As the spirited volleyball action goes back to the familiar hardwood this Nov., the rest of the Lady Spikers will definitely be back with a vengeance. Expect Villanueva to be right in the thick of things.