Lady Spikers reach title series, but lose Galang

Game Wednesday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

3:30 p.m. – ADMU vs DLSU (women finals)

MANILA, Philippines - La Salle forged another dream titular duel with rival Ateneo with a 26-24, 21-25, 25-18, 25-21 victory over National U but lost skipper Ara Galang to injury yesterday in their UAAP Season 77 women’s volleyball stepladder semis rubbermatch at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Galang banged in 25 points before getting stretchered off the court due to a painful knee injury, a development that could jeopardize her stint in the finals against the unbeaten and thrice-to-beat Lady Eagles.

The La Salle captain was brought to Makati Med immediately after the game for treatment and further tests. UAAP medic group EMS Solutions said it couldn’t make an initial prognosis but claimed Galang rated the pain level at “10 out of 10.”

“Sa ngayon hindi ko pa alam kung ano condition ni Ara. Hopefully, sana hindi naman ganun kalala (We don’t know the real extent of injury yet but we hope it’s not that bad),” said La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus, in no mood to celebrate after making their  sixth  straight finals appeareance.   

“Tinanong ko sya kanina after noong incident, sabi ko, kaya ba? Umiiling siya so siguro may naramdamang pain, sobra (I asked her earlier if she could handle it but she only shook her head, apparently feeling too much pain),” he added.

La Salle will be looking to avenge its numbing loss to Ateneo last time, when the Lady Eagles turned  the Lady Spikers’ dream season into a nightmare.

Meanwhile, back-to-back MVP Marck Espejo punched in a career-high-matching 33 points as the Ateneo Blue Eagles completed their flight to history, dethroning National U via a 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-15 win in Game Two of the men’s finals.

It was the Eagles’ breakthrough UAAP crown, and the first since the team of the  late coach Pitong Custodia won the NCAA crown way back in 1976.

 “Honestly, it was long overdue as a coach. A little patience and hardwork, it’s really worth the wait. Talagang pinaghirapan namin talaga ito. Dugo’t pawis ang pinuhunan namin dito (We worked too hard for this),” said a jubilant mentor Oliver Almadro. 

   “May mga bumps, pero hindi nag-give up mga players ko (there were bumps along the way but the players never gave up), they delivered. Yung trust and faith ko sa kanila nandoon, (rewarded my faith in them)” he added.