Lady Spikers back as UAAP champs

MANILA, Philippines – White confetti rained down on the court after Kim Dy scored the championship point for La Salle last night, capping a 19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16 victory over Ateneo in yet another dream final for the UAAP women’s volleyball crown.

The Smart Araneta Coliseum was filled to the rafters, and a screaming crowd of 22,848, evenly divided in green and blue, witnessed the action. The final score hardly reflected the toughness of the winner-take-all match.

It wasn’t easy.

It was the fifth straight finals matchup between the two giant schools, with La Salle winning in 2012 and 2013, Ateneo in 2014 and 2015, and here again, La Salle. It was the ninth UAAP title for La Salle, behind FEU (29) and Santo Tomas (14). Ateneo has two.

The Lady Spikers rejoiced and danced around the court after Dy, who was named Finals MVP, drilled in her 17th point of the match, the final point of the season.

Confetti fell from the Big Dome’s catwalk, and La Salle fans were as jubilant as ever. Players hugged each other at the center of the court, most of them failing to control their emotions.

For Ateneo players, it was as painful as any other defeat. Many thought their Game 2 victory last Wednesday was enough to carry them to the title. But La Salle bounced back as expected, committing less mistakes (19-33) and playing better as a team.

“It was teamwork,” said Dy, who will be left to carry the load for La Salle next year, along with the league’s best setter, Kim Fajardo.

Those who played their final game for La Salle were Mika Reyes, Ara Galang, Cyd Demecillo, Maria Esperanza and Carol Ann Cerveza. It was a memorable exit.

Galang said the team’s bitter loss in Game 2, where La Salle blew a commanding two-set lead, almost made her give up.

“I started to doubt myself,” she said.

“But I never doubted my teammates and my coaches,” Galang said.

La Salle coach Ramil de Jesus said they carried the perfect game plan, saying based on the Game 2 defeat, they realized that Ateneo was trying to wear down their open spikers – Demecillo and Galang.

“That was Ateneo’s plan. We solved it,” he said.

“Winning the first game of the series,” the La Salle coach added, “was very important because even when we lost the second game, the good news is that there will be a third game.”

Ateneo won the opening set behind the hits of three-time MVP Alyssa Valdez, and had the second set in control until La Salle broke a 10-10 deadlock and tried to pull away. Ateneo was right behind at 21-20, again on a Valdez attack, but folded up to lose the set.

In the third, it was La Salle all the way with Reyes, Galang and Dy hitting their target. Reyes slapped the ball down the baseline and gave the Lady Spikers a 21-14 lead.

The Lady Eagles will have no one else to blame but themselves. They had 33 turnovers during the match, nine of them in the second set and then 11 more in the third.

In the fourth set, the Lady Spikers had adrenaline flowing down their veins, and they raced to a 12-3 lead. Valdez tried hard and then harder but this time, she couldn’t score on the plays she has mastered in her bountiful five years in the UAAP.

La Salle put up double-blocks on Valdez and it paid off in the match that took one hour and 51 minutes to finish.

Reyes, the beautiful middle hitter from Bulacan, scored on a spike that left three Ateneo players sprawled on the floor to make it 8-2. It was a picture of frustration for the Lady Eagles, by this time well aware that the game, and their bid for a third straight crown, had slipped away.

With a 16-5 lead, La Salle braced for the win, and moved farther ahead at 23-12, following two failed attempts by Valdez. Dy gave La Salle matchpoint at 24-14, and then the win with a spike off the block.

La Salle was back as UAAP champion.

Valdez played her final UAAP game. As the Lady Spikers celebrated with their fans, the heavy-handed 22-year-old Lady Eagle bravely faced the Ateneo crowd. She was crying as she circled the court to bid the fans goodbye.

The Ateneo crowd, one in defeat, chanted, “MVP! MVP!”

Her eyes puffy from crying, Valdez faced reporters inside the press room, and the first thing she did was to congratulate La Salle for a job well done.

“First of all, congratulations to La Salle. They really played well today. They played well as a team,” said Valdez, who bowed out of the UAAP along with teammates Amy Ahomiro and Mary Mae Tajima.

Valdez said she’s now ready to face real life – life after college. She took the loss the way champions do, and felt thankful for all the opportunity.

“Nobody wants to lose. It’s sad, of course. But life goes on. This is not the end,” she said.

Facing the press, she said, “I will miss you all.”