PSL All-Filipino Conference 2015: Lady Spikers, Friends and Foes

For more than a decade, the DLSU Lady Spikers have been a cohesive and successful unit, having only finished in the bottom half of the UAAP in Seasons 69 and 70, which was also during the time the DLSU sports program was suspended for eligibility issues. Other than those two years, the Lady Spikers have always finished at the top two spots, and in that span of time, the team also bagged seven league championships.

Though the members of these championship teams represented the same name in front of their jerseys back in college, some have teamed up once again to rally together against a common enemy, while others have suited up to face opponents who were once their comrades. Like in any other professional sport wherein every athlete and team fights for glory and gold, the Philippine Super Liga (PSL) pits volleyball’s best against one another while at the same time, forging teams with members from both similar and different origins.

Almost half of the Shopinas.com Lady Clickers, the 2015 PSL All-Filipino Conference first runner-up, are former Lady Spikers. Six out of their 14 players represented the Green-and-White before they joined the professional ranks, namely: Stephanie Mercado, Wensh Tiu, Cha Cruz, Rochelle Sison, Alexandra Tan, and Kim Dy, who is the only current Lady Spiker on the roster. Their head coach is also affiliated with La Salle as Ramil De Jesus utilized both seasoned veterans and familiarity with more than a handful of his players to guide the Lady Spikers to a podium finish.

Other PSL athletes from DLSU competing in the same tournament are Lady Spiker icons in their own right: Abigail Maraño of eventual champions Petron Blaze Spikers, Ivy Remulla of Foton Tornadoes, and Michele Gumabao and Melissa Gohing of second runner-up Philips Gold Lady Slammers, played a part in their team’s success during the season.

Season summary

The Petron Blaze Spikers once again proved themselves to be a formidable team as they landed a PSL championship title for the second time in a row after duking it out with Shopinas.com in a grueling four-set match.

The back-to-back champions swept the season, winning all 10 matches in the elimination round, their match against Philips Gold in the semifinals, and both games against the Lady Clickers in the championship round.

On the other hand, the Foton Tornadoes and Shopinas.com Lady Clickers faced each other in a play-off for second seed as they were tied with a 5-5 win-loss record, with the latter having won the right to play in the finals after winning in five sets, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 17-15.

The Foton Tornadoes then had to face the Philips Gold Lady Slammers in the battle for third place. Philips Gold emerged victorious in the five-set match as they defeated Foton, 25-20, 25-20, 15-25, 17-25, 15-11.

The Blaze Spikers swiftly took Finals Game 1, not giving Shopinas a single set, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19.

Game 2 proved to be more of a challenge for the Blaze Spikers as the Lady Clickers succeeded in taking the second set from Petron. Nonetheless, Petron took the remaining sets of the match,25-17, 22-25, 30-28, 25-17.

Blaze Spikers Maraño and Dindin Santiago-Manabat led their team, scoring 18 points each, closely followed by team captain Rachel Daquis who finished with 16 points.

Lady Spikers’ mark on the PSL

Throughout the season, athletes who hailed from different schools exhibited their mastery of the sport. Special awards were given to players that showed their mastery in the different skill areas of the game. Among these awardees were Maraño, Cruz, and Gumabao, who bagged the 2nd Best Middle Blocker, 1st Best Outside Spiker, and the Best Opposite Spiker awards, respectively.

Petron Blaze’s Maraño has been a huge contributor even in the professional level, especially through her blocking prowess. Aside from being awarded as the 2nd Best Middle Blocker, she amassed a total of 173 blocking attempts with 24 kills, 114 rebounds, and 35 faults, numbers that made her 4th on the best blockers’ list. She also finished as the 2nd Best Spiker after finishing the season with numbers amassing of 109 spikes, 162 shots, and 25 faults.

Another notable player is Cruz from the Lady Clickers. She was given the title of 1st Best Outside Spiker and along with the award she was included in the top ten best servers and best diggers’ lists, ranking 5th and 8th, respectively. Cruz had also made it to the top ten receivers with 78 excellent receives, 108 service receptions, and only 16 faults for the whole duration of the tournament. With 19 aces, 108 serve hits, and 27 faults, she also finished as the fifth best server and has 50 faults, 84 digs, and 145 receptions.

In addition to being named the Best Opposite Spiker, Philips Gold’s Gumabao was listed as one of the best blockers, spikers, and best diggers of the tournament. With a total of 20 block kills, 97 rebounds, and 35 faults, she was ranked as the tenth best blocker. Moreover, the Lady Slammers’ team captain drew 138 spikes, 269 shots, and only 52 faults, making her the sixth best spiker. And last but not the least, Gumabao reached the tenth best digger slot with 70 faults, 73 digs, and 189 receptions.

Other Lasallians who were included the top ten lists were Gohing and Dy. Gohing racked up 144 digs, 178 receptions, and 58 faults, making her the 3rd best digger. She was also the 4th best overall, after having finished with 136 excellents, 20 faults, and 181 serve receptions. On the other hand, Lady Clicker Dy, also a present-day Lady Spiker, placed as the eighth best blocker of the tournament. She was able to perform 20 kill blocks, 97 rebounds, and 39 faults for a total of 156 block attempts.