Written by Akari Sports Staff | Photo from The UAAP
LAST season’s runner-up La Salle plays Far Eastern University to usher in a new UAAP women’s volleyball season on Valentine’s Day at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Incidentally, it was the Lady Spikers and the Lady Tamaraws who faced off in the league’s most recent Feb. 14 match-up in 2018, when the Taft-based side won in five sets against their Morayta counterparts.
The La Salle-FEU clash is set at 3 p.m.
La Salle, which last won in 2023, is aching to end back-to-back heartbreaks behind veterans Angel Canino, Shevana Laput and Amie Provido.
Noel Orcullo, coach Ramil de Jesus’ long-time trusted lieutenant, knows that the Lady Spikers will have to grind it out to to reclaim the throne with other teams’ strong off-season build-ups.
“Yun nga, gaya ng sabi ko, walang madaling kalaban ngayon. Lahat mahirap. ‘Yung iba, bago ‘yung coaches, bago ‘yung sistema. So talagang paghahandaan na lang bawat team. So expect na lang talaga na hindi magiging madali ‘yung mga panalo,” Orcullo said.
A fit Laput is ready to make strides this year not only in her game but being the skipper of La Salle’s ship.
“Of course, I am embracing it with a lot of hope and a lot of happiness. Of course, even though I am the captain at the end of the day, it’s not only me leading this team. I still do have my batchmates. I still have Amie, Angel, Lyka (de Leon, libero), all four of us are leading this team this season,” Laput, last year’s top opposite spiker, said.
Canino, who with Laput, Provido and De Leon is also in her fourth year, was the second-best scorer behind Adamson’s Shai
Nitura last season, with her experience with Alas Pilipinas will come into handy.
The Lady Spikers placed second last year and were third in 2024.
FEU has a solid core led by Congo’s Faida Bakanke, Gerz Petallo and Jaz Ellarina.
