With Kim Fajardo as the lone fifth-year player in the roster of the DLSU Lady Spikers, younger holdovers have had to step up in Season 79. De La Salle Zobel alumnae and teammates Kim Kianna Dy and Dawn Macandili have provided stability to the team from Taft. As they were teammates in high school, they also help the team with their chemistry.
“[It’s] very fun [playing with Kianna also at the collegiate level]! May connection kami inside the court kasi since high school pa kami naglalaro together,” Macandili explains.
As an older member of the team, Dy shares how she leads the team by example. “Actually, I’m not really the vocal [type of person]. I try to play my game so it affects my teammates. I feel like if I play well, they will too,” she says in English and Filipino.
She continues by explaining how she also guides the team off the court, “Syempre, I teach them what to do, especially [sa] mga bata, you really have to guide them. The right thing to do [and] the little things.”
Hustle and heart
If the Lady Spikers once had Melissa Gohing as their libero in the early years of the decade, they now have Macandili. Long gone are the days that floor defense proved to be the Achilles heel of the Green-and-White. Macandili has filled in the shoes of Gohing, or has even arguably outperformed the latter.
As a testament to her improvement, Macandili was named Best Digger and Best Receiver of the last 2015 UAAP Season. She did not settle there, and won the Philippine Super Liga title with F2 Logistics later on the same year. Macandili also accomplished a rare feat as she was named best Libero and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player (MVP).
“Siya yung heart ng team namin kasi pag nakita mo siya maglaro talaga (She’s the heart of the team, because when you watch her play), she’ll dive for the ball, she’ll throw her body just to save the ball. Syempre, when we see that, parang nagaganahan kami (we get energized) so she may be the smallest, but she has the biggest heart,” Dy says regarding her long-time teammate.
Trusting the process
While coach Ramil De Jesus once looked to Ara Galang and Cyd Demecillo, he now has Dy as one of his most experienced players to lead the charge, especially on offense. Like Macandili, Dy had her breakout year in the previous UAAP season. She managed to get into the Lady Spikers’ rotation in the second round and established her presence from then on.
Macandili comments on Dy’s form explaining, “I would say she has improved a lot from her high school days. From being a middle blocker to an opposite hitter. I think lumabas lalo yung potential niya as a player.”
Despite only finding her rhythm in the latter stages of the tournament, she managed to take the home the Finals MVP award as the Lady Spikers defeated the ADMU Lady Eagles for the title.
Continuous improvement
La Salle currently holds a 5-1 win-loss record in Season 79. Although the Lady Spikers bowed to the UP Lady Maroons in lackluster fashion, they managed to regroup and bounce back. The Lasallians are currently on a three-game winning streak after defeating the NU Lady Bulldogs, AdU Lady Falcons, and the UE Lady Warriors in straight sets. They notably halted the three-game winning streak of the the Lady Bulldogs.
“We’re still working on our lapses, so we can perfect our movements, even with the victories. We think it’s still not our A-game. We will still fix the small errors,” says Dy on the team’s current form in a mixture of English and Filipino.
Macandili and Dy have been instrumental to the team’s chemistry and have been significant to the team both on and off the court. Come March 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena, the Lady Spikers will be tested once again in a rematch of last season’s finals as they face archrivals, the ADMU Lady Eagles, in what is sure to be a match-up to look out for.
