With the first semester of the UAAP at a close, The LaSallian takes a look at the Green-and-White’s General Championship (GC) bid so far from a statistical perspective. Behind every team’s result in the UAAP, from basketball to volleyball, are valuable points contributed to each university’s GC points tally. Coming off back-to-back GCs in Season 75 and 76, and an unsuccessful bid for a third straight crown in Season 77, De La Salle University is looking to take back the trophy to Taft with the battle cry, “Get it done this season!”
General Championship points breakdown
153 – The total number of GC points the Taft-based athletes have managed to accumulate in the first half of the UAAP. La Salle is currently in second place, two points adrift from leaders UST. Rivals ADMU round out the top three with 140 points.
3 – The number of championships won by La Salle so far in the first semester of UAAP Season 78. With their respective triumphs, the Green Paddlers, Lady Paddlers, and Lady Spikers have each contributed a maximum of 15 points to the GC race.
2 – The number of runner-up finishes by the Green-and-White squads halfway into the UAAP season. The Green Tankers and Green Shuttlers have managed to contribute 12 points each from their particular campaigns.
7 – La Salle so far has managed to bag seven 2nd runner-up finishes so far in its GC bid. The Lady Archers, Lady Shuttlers, Lady Tankers, and Green Judokas managed get bronze in their tournaments along with the Green Jins and Lady Jins. To add to the tally, DLSU also came in at third in the Poomsae competition. Each 2nd runner up finish is worth ten points each to the GC tally.
To round up the points tally of La Salle, the Green Archers and Lady Judokas finished their respective tournaments in fifth, contributing six points each to the total GC tally while the 7th place result of the Green Spikers in beach volleyball earned the University two points.
Individual awards
5 – The future looks promising for La Salle, as five of its athletes so far have brought home the Rookie of the Year award. Kyle Arsenal of the Green Jins, Andrei Caracut of the Green Archers, Arian Neil Puyo of the Green Tankers, Ed John Mateo of the Green Paddlers, and Emy Rose Dael of the Lady Paddlers took home the distinction of being their tournament’s best rookie this season.
3 – Paddlers Ian Lariba and Walden Ledesma, along with Lady Spiker Kim Fajardo took home the Most Valuable Player Award in their tournaments. Lariba and Ledesma, took home their third and second MVP awards, respectively for La Salle. Both also managed to earn Rookie of the Year honors in Season 74.
Other notable statistics
4 – The number of times the Green Archers have failed to make the Final Four since its implementation in 1994. La Salle was suspended from all UAAP tournaments in 2006, for fielding two ineligible players, while the Green Archers performed poorly in 2009, 2011, and 2015, wherein the team finished with a dismal 6-8 win-loss record.
12 – The Lady Archers rode a 12-game winning streak in the Women’s Basketball tournament to end their elimination round with 12 victories and two defeats. Despite holding a twice-to-beat advantage, the Cholo Villanueva mentored squad was upset by the ADMU Blue Eagles, ending their campaign in third place.
0 – The number of defeats dealt to Lariba of the Lady Paddlers in her five-year UAAP career.
Despite the mixed results in the first semester of UAAP competition, DLSU is still in the hunt for its third overall GC. With the first semester sports heading into their offseason, attention now shifts to the second semester athletes led by the likes of the Lady Spikers and Men’s Football team. The remaining teams set to wear the Green and White colors will look to overcome the two-point deficit to the Growling Tigers and bring back the crown to Taft Avenue.
