Change in volleyball landscape

I saw the UAAP volleyball finals winner-take-all duel on a phone on the beach in Sariaya, Quezon.

It was not the most elaborate of formats but my nieces Chrichelle and Lara Padilla found a way to stay in tune with the most important volleyball game of the season to date. The Sarmenta clan headed for its summer seaside getaway, Villa Vicenta, owned by Alex Quizon who married my cousin Chona. We brought everything except a TV to this quaint resort.

Months ago, it didn’t look like Ateneo was going to be the team to stop La Salle.

Odds at the start of the season seemed to say it was going to be National University that would do it, what with the tall Santiago sisters and a crew of seasoned veterans.

Ateneo was a team going through change, with its new starters needing time to play competitively together. Save for the prolific Alyssa Valdez and consistent libero Denden Lazaro, only Ella de Jesus and Amy Ahomiro had gotten some playing time in previous tournaments. Most had to play in the shadows of the veterans Gretchen Ho, Fillie Cainglet, Gem Ferrer and others who had already graduated.

But years of playing foils to the starters strengthened the one-time second team and in time, they formed a new alliance with Valdez and some excellent new recruits. When you’re part of the second or third six, you become a little hungrier once you do get the playing minutes.

After a bumpy start, Ateneo started winning and finally racked enough triumphs to make it to the playoff round. They knocked off Adamson; trounced NU twice and finally beat La Salle thrice to defy the odds and the stepladder format to win their first UAAP volleyball title.

Ateneo’s win was a confluence of some interesting changes in its program. Roger Gorayeb was out as coach after unsuccessful championship tries and Thai Anusorn Bundit was in for this season. The dancing coach, who could hardly speak any English, needed only one phrase to rally his team.  “Heart-strong” was, at first, his timeout spiel; and then it was on a T-shirt and then became the team’s battlecry.

The simplicity of Anusorn’s approach did not reveal the hard workouts he gave the new champions. His lack of precise communication turned out to be helpful, as he did not have to deliver long sermons to erring players. Anusorn again showed that success as a college coach begins with treating your players as adults and students as well.

La Salle came up with another fine season, including an unbeaten classification-phase record, but the momentum of the championship series changed when Ateneo began to steal sets from them, beat them in games and get breaks as well. One can only speculate how much the double touch call in the third match last Wednesday could have affected La Salle.

By then, they were a point away from winning their fourth straight title. La Salle was frustrated with the call but the team knew that there are no “let go” situations in volleyball. If the refs see something regardless of the game situation, they will most likely call it.

Being so close can actually feel so far away from your goal. Ask any team that tried to end a series with all the advantages. Sports is replete with stories of teams who could not close the deal.

As I struggled to view the game on our miniature screen and the waves of the sea murmured in the background, there was a change going on in the volleyball landscape.  And like most huge waves, Ateneo’s surge started slowly but ended with a loud bang.