Moment of the Year: Lady Spikers clinch ninth UAAP title over Ateneo

No team fit the bill of redemption as much as the DLSU Lady Spikers, who ended two years of heartbreak after clinching the UAAP Season 78 Women’s Volleyball Championship over the Ateneo Lady Eagles in three thrilling games. Led by a rising third-year star and an eager group of seniors, the Lady Spikers remained relentless in the pursuit of what turned out to be their ninth crown in the UAAP.

Last season and most of the preseason were marred by injuries that hampered their growth and forced them to change their plans prior to Season 78. Injuries to Ara Galang and Desiree Cheng were tough blows to the squad but with ample time in their hands, the team made the necessary adjustments, coupled with more than a handful of preseason wins that allowed them to remain resilient and perform well during the season and in the semifinals.

Games 1 and 2 of the Finals were a total contrast from one another as La Salle and Ateneo split the first two games of the championship series. The Lady Spikers swept Ateneo in Game 1, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21, behind the efforts of Player of the Game Mika Reyes, who finished the game with 13 points off six blocks. DLSU raced back from an early 7-1 deficit to steal the opening frame, while they used a 7-1 run of their own to take the second set. From there, it was all La Salle as Galang and the rest of the squad held on to move to within a game from clinching the title.

Ateneo then took Game 2 in five sets, 18-25, 26-28, 25-17, 25-16, 15-11, tying the series at 1-1. Season 78 MVP Alyssa Valdez went on a tear as she poured in 34 points off 32 attacks to keep ADMU’s season alive despite staring at an early two-set deficit. Kim Dy led La Salle with 16 points off 13 attacks, but she and the rest of the Lady Spikers couldn’t close out the Lady Eagles.

Game 3 seemed to swing towards Ateneo’s favor early on as they jumped to a commanding 10-1 lead in the opening set that they eventually took, 25-19. Not wanting to go through another meltdown, La Salle went in on the attack as they took the next three sets to clinch a 19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16 win that ended their two-year title drought. Finals MVP Dy led the Lady Spikers with 17 points off 16 attacks, one of which handed DLSU the title.

The series showed the Lasallian community how much the team had grown in the past three years, with the likes of Kim Fajardo, Majoy Baron, and Dawn Macandili earning individual awards that proved that the Lady Spikers are talented both individually and as one team. In those three games, fans also got to see the likes of Reyes, Galang, Cyd Demecillo, Mika Esperanza, and Carol Cerveza for one last time before they passed on the torches to Ernestine Tiamzon, Christine Soyud, and May Luna. With Season 79 still months away, expect a new chapter to unfold, one that will definitely be inspired by the moment when they fought back from adversity to clinch the title.