Pre-season recap: A glimpse of the second half of UAAP Season 78

The first half of UAAP Season 78 brought fans several exciting spectacles throughout its duration, crowning new champions in several competitions. Now entering the second part of the long season, schools have shifted their focus towards other sports, namely volleyball, baseball, softball, football, lawn tennis, track & field, chess, and fencing.

With DLSU in the running for this year’s UAAP General Championship (GC), the second-half teams have long began preparations for their respective tournaments. Besides the usual training camps and practice sessions the teams do on a regular basis, some squads took the liberty of participating in competitions outside of the UAAP, eager to get into game shape early on.

In this article, The LaSallian will be discussing four tournaments th­­at several Taft-based varsity teams joined: the Spikers’ Turf, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman’s Cup, the Philippine National Games (PNG), and the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open. While their performance in these competitions do not completely indicate how the teams will fare in the UAAP, it gives the fans a glimpse of how they’ll play once their seasons commence.

Spikers’ Turf

The DLSU Men’s Volleyball team competed in the inaugural edition of the Spikers’ Turf Collegiate Conference that lasted from July to September 2015. The tournament, organized by Sports Vision Management Group and PLDT, had 12 teams from various collegiate leagues participating, and was divided into three rounds wherein only the top four teams from each round would advance to the next stage.

The Green Spikers were able to get past the preliminaries after placing second in their group with a 4-1 win-loss card, with their lone defeat coming at the hands of UAAP champions, the ADMU Blue Eagles. They beat teams such as UP, DLS-CSB, DLSU-Dasmarinas, and Arellano University to start the tournament on the right track.

However, their early successes went for naught after performing dismally in the quarterfinals. Facing the top four teams from the other group, the Green Spikers notched only one victory against FEU but chalked up losses against NU, EAC, and NCBA. With their elimination record tying NCBA for the fourth and final ticket to the semis, they faced the Wildcats in a playoff.

Despite tapping the services of guest players to help them secure the win in the do-or-die encounter, the NCBA Wildcats made short work of the Taft-based squad. They beat the Green Spikers in three straight sets, 30-28, 31-29, 25-21, handing DLSU a fifth-place finish to end the tournament.

PSC Chairman’s Cup

The DLSU Green Batters placed second in the 3rd PSC Chairman’s Cup after losing to three-time champion Philippine Air Force (PAF) in the finals, 3-1. Sophomore Kiko Gesmundo was the team’s top performer as he brought home three individual awards, namely Best Slugger, Most Homeruns, and MVP.

La Salle won three games in the eliminations, beating teams such as the Thunders, Itakura Parts Philippines Corporation (IPPC) Hawks, and Unicorns to reach the finals.

The PSC Chairman’s Cup was played in the Rizal Memorial Stadium with the competition spanning from October 17 to November 29. This was the Green Batters’ last tournament before the start of their UAAP season.

Philippine National Games

The DLSU Lady Spikers participated in the Philippine National Games (PNG) Volleyball Competition held last July 5 to 9 of last year. The squad opened the tournament in dominating fashion, sweeping the elimination round. Interestingly, all the matchups resulted in a 3-0 sweep as they grabbed the gold medal in the 2015 edition of the games.

La Salle lorded over the competition, not to mention nearly taking home almost all of the individual awards as well. Lady Spiker Cyd Demecillo for instance, was named 1st Best Outside Spiker while Mika Reyes was named 1st Best Middle Blocker. Justine Tiu won Best Opposite Blocker while veteran Kim Fajardo received MVP honors.

Aside from the Lady Spikers, the track and field, chess, fencing, and men’s baseball teams also competed in the PNG’s Luzon Qualifying leg. Individual members of the track and field, chess, and fencing teams reaped several awards while the Men’s baseball team clinched second place in their own contest.

PCA Open

The DLSU Lawn Tennis team participated in the PCA Open 2015 Intercollege division held last October 5 to 9. They fielded three teams, two from the men’s team and one from the women’s, all of which were composed of both veterans and rookies.

In the men’s division, DLSU-A earned their ticket to the semifinals after winning against Mapua, 3-0, and UP-B, 2-1, in the elimination round. They were defeated, however, by UP-A in the semifinals, 2-1.

The other DLSU men’s tennis team was unable to garner any wins against the teams from their bracket, which was made up of NU, UP-A, and San Beda.

Meanwhile, in the women’s division, the Lady Tennisters had a good start as they beat UP in all their matches, 3-0. However, they had a hard time against UST, whom they faced in the playoffs of the Season 77 Tennis Tournament, with their matches carrying over to the tiebreaker sets. It was UST who prevailed in the end, winning two of the three matches, 2-1. With a 1-1 record, the Lady Tennisters were unable to qualify for the semifinal round.

The playing experience gained will be a valuable asset that can help the teams prepare for the tougher battles ahead. While not winning the championship in these contests can put a dent to an athlete’s pride, they are merely stepping stones for the main prize, which is the UAAP GC.