After losing Game One of the UAAP Women’s Volleyball Finals against the defending champion ADMU Lady Eagles last March 11, the DLSU Lady Spikers are on the verge of facing another UAAP Finals heartbreak as their surging archrivals are one win away from a back-to-back championship.
On March 14, Saturday, at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Lady Spikers will try to stop and steal a win from the Lady Eagles as they meet again in Game Two of the finals. The undefeated squad from Katipunan did not participate in UAAP action for almost three weeks as they swept the elimination round to take an automatic entry to the finals.
Despite their long break, the Lady Eagles did not show any signs of rust and defeated the Lady Spikers in straight sets, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19, in their first meeting in the finals. The outcome of the match last Wednesday marked La Salle’s fifth straight loss against Ateneo since Game Three of last season’s finals that happened almost a year ago.
Injury stricken challengers Losing team captain Ara Galang due to ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus tears and a big bone bruise demanded for more contributions in offense and defense from the bench as Galang is the team’s best player both in the scoring and non-scoring departments with an average of 17.31 points per game, 6.81 digs and 4.31 receptions.
Galang was injured last March 7, but four days later, another fallen Lady Spiker joined her in the injured list. Late in the third set of Game One, Camille Cruz suddenly went down after an attack with a hurting right knee. She was brought out of the court and was given first aid at La Salle’s bench. It was later confirmed that Cruz suffered tears in her ACL, LCL and a big bone bruise and will miss the rest of the finals series.
This is not the first time that Cruz suffered an ACL injury as she fell to the same injury for two straight years in UAAP 74 and UAAP 75.
With a total of eight UAAP Women’s Volleyball titles, including two three-peats, the Taft-based squad are in an unfamiliar territory as they are competing in the finals as the underdogs against the team they have dominated many seasons ago.
Without Galang, Abigail Maraño or Michele Gumabao, the Lady Spikers have no one to rely on but themselves left in the team. With Galang’s sudden exit, veterans Mika Reyes, Cyd Demecillo and co-captain Kim Fajardo have to do extra work for La Salle while emerging bench players Mary Joy Baron, Carol Cerveza, and rookie Eli Soyud have to step up more than they have done before. On the other hand, the Lady Eagles are favored to win their second straight championship crown this season as the momentum and confidence remains in their arsenal.
The Katipunan-based squad proves to be solid, holding a 17-game winning streak dating back to Game Three of last season’s finals. Moreover, team captain Alyssa Valdez was confirmed to be this season’s MVP and with the recognition given to her for two consecutive years, Ateneo might be on the right track on achieving their championship goal.
With the series of misfortunes that came to La Salle’s way, will the Lady Spikers find a way out to get back up and redeem themselves against Ateneo or will their archrivals finally end their quest for redemption and take the crown once again? Game Two of the finals will be on March 14, Saturday, 3:30pm, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
