By the numbers: UAAP 78 second semester

With De La Salle University’s third UAAP General Championship (GC) trophy already etched in the annals of history, The LaSallian revisits the numbers DLSU posted in the second semester of UAAP Season 78, while also looking at the significant overall numbers that allowed the University to clinch its third title in a span of four years.

GC points breakdown

284 – The total number of points earned by La Salle in Season 78, four more than UST’s season total (280). After the first semester of UAAP action, La Salle trailed UST, 155-153. The UAAP 78 champion then rallied to overcome its deficit after outscoring the university from España in the second half, 131-125.

3 – The number of championships won in the second semester of UAAP Season 78 competition. The Lady Spikers and Green Batters came in at first place after defeating their counterparts from ADMU. The Lady Woodpushers also managed to take home a title after finishing first in the round-robin chess tournament, a notch above their second-place finish in Season 77.

1 – The Women’s Football Team was the only La Salle squad to come up with a bridesmaid finish in the second half of Season 78. The team mentored by coach Hans Smit contributed 12 GC points after falling short against the UP Lady Maroons, 2-1, in the finals.

4 – Four DLSU teams that played in the second semester ended their respective seasons in third place. The Lady Tennisters, Lady Fencers, Green Woodpushers, and the Men’s Football Team contributed a combined 40 points to the GC tally.

To further add to La Salle’s GC tally, the Green Tracksters and Lady Tracksters both came in at fourth, adding eight points each. The Green Fencers came in at fifth place, earning six points in the process. The Green Spikers, Green Tennisters, and the Softbelles combined for a total of 12 points to the GC race after finishing in sixth place in their respective tournaments.

Individual awards

4 – A total of four rookies competing in the second semester events managed to earn Rookie of the Year honors. Divine Romero of the Lady Fencers and Antoinette San Diego of the Lady Woodpushers, along with Sara Castañeda and Jed Diamante of DLSU Football are players to look out for in the coming seasons. The four athletes pushed La Salle’s tally of Rookie of the Year honors in this season alone to nine.

Also, four second semester athletes from Taft earned MVP or Finals MVP honors in their respective sports. Boo Barandiaran and Diego Lozano shared Finals MVP honors for the Green Batters, while Lady Spiker Kim Dy and Bernadette Galas of the Lady Woodpushers were named Finals MVP and MVP, respectively.

Four Green Batters received individual honors at the conclusion of the Baseball tournament. Joining Finals MVPs Lozano and Barandiaran were Tuwi Park and Paolo Salud. Park received the award for most Runs Batted In (RBI) with 12, while Salud was named Best Hitter with an average of .430.

6 – The number of individual honors the DLSU Spikers earned in Season 78. Joining Finals MVP Dy were Kim Fajardo (Best Setter), MaJoy Baron (Best Blocker), Dawn Macandili (Best Digger and Receiver), and Raymark Woo (Best Scorer).

7 – The number of individual awards earned by DLSU Football at season’s end. Inna Palacios of the women’s team and Paeng De Guzman of the men’s team both received the Best Goalkeeper awards in their respective divisions. Castañeda and Diamante earned Rookie of the Year Honors in the women’s and men’s divisions, respectively. Castañeda was also named Best Midfielder and shared Golden Boot Honors with fellow rookie Shannon Arthur. Last but not the least, Regine Metillo received the Best Defender award.

Other notable statistics

8 – The number of goals scored by DLSU leading scorer Greggy Yang in this year’s tournament. The midfielder ended the season as the second leading scorer of the tournament, tied with NU’s Nico Macapal and FEU’s Rico Andes. Jarvey Gayoso of ADMU and NU’s Paolo Salenga shared Golden Boot honors with 11 goals each. Yang was also one of three players to score a hat-trick in the men’s division last season, along with ADMU’s Mashu Yoshioka and Salenga.

14 – Rookies Arthur and Castañeda of the Women’s Football Team shared Golden Boot honors after scoring seven goals each.

The Animo Rally that highlighted the start of UAAP Season 78 put out a bold statement towards this season. “Get it done this season!” was the battle cry that echoed throughout every game of the season and became the agenda of every athlete representing the Green-and-White. True enough, backed both by what the Lasallian community saw and the numbers above, they followed through on their promise.