Lady Spikers seek to sustain winning tradition

MANILA, Philippines – Anyone who’s anyone in the UAAP volleyball community is well aware of the storied history of the DLSU Lady Spikers program, which, under the tutelage of head coach Ramil de Jesus, has won 12 championships.

But no one is more aware of what’s at stake than the current batch of Lady Spikers themselves.

In the midst of a back-to-back title bid in UAAP Season 86, the Taft-based spikers are taking inspiration from the Lady Spikers of the past.

Asked about their cutting edge on the rest of the competition, reigning MVP Angel Canino pointed to their program’s winning tradition.

“Syempre, champion po kami last year so kailangan namin ipakita kung sino kami and di lang dahil champion kami last year kundi [dahil sa] history ng La Salle,” said Canino. 

“Kasi marami nang napatunayan ang La Salle. So kailangan namin kapitan yun at ipag-patunayan pa,” she added.

Likewise was the insight of middle blocker Amie Provido, who had a breakout game of 14 points against Season 85 runners-up NU on Saturday.

Provido said that just like those that came before them, this Lady Spikers squad can likewise go all the way.

“Alam naman po natin yung previous na Lady Spikers [champion] and yun po yung pinangkukunan po namin ng lakas na gusto din po namin patunayan na kung ano yung iniwan nila, kaya din po namin,” she said.

Still, it’s not going to be a walk in the park for DLSU, with the second round bringing tougher challenges. Focusing on themselves, La Salle will work to improve themselves both physical and mentally.

“Yung second round, hindi po magiging madali [yung] laban sa amin. So kailangan po talaga namin trabahuhin iimprove pa yung mga need namin iimprove sa sarili namin,” said Provido.

“We just stick to our game, stick to our system. But also, volleyball is a mind game so we gotta work on our minds — work on handling the pressure,” quipped Shevana Laput.

As it stands, the Lady Spikers are 6-1 in the standings and are looking good for a deep run in Season 86.