No stopping Dy, Lady Spikers’ rising star

FOCUS may have been fixed on La Salle’s star trio but a rising standout has helped the Lady Spikers inch closer to reclaiming the UAAP women’s volleyball championship.

Kim Kianna Dy, a third-year utility spiker, tossed in a team-high 15 points to lead the Lady Spikers to a surprisingly quick disposal of fierce rival Ateneo, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21, in Game 1 of the Finals last Saturday.

The 5-foot-10 Dy played sparingly early in the season, but has scored in double-digits several times since getting a spot in the starting six in the second round of eliminations.

“Everyone woke up on the right side of the bed and it was really a team effort,” said Dy, who has been ably supporting star teammates Ara Galang, Mika Reyes and Kim Fajardo.

“I never thought that we can’t do it even when they were leading,” added Dy after the Lady Spikers stunned the two-time champions. “So as long as [the score] hasn’t reached 25, we won’t stop.”

A former UAAP juniors MVP with De La Salle Zobel, Dy thinks she has yet to show her best game despite a string of solid games.

And she hopes to do it when the Lady Spikers go for the championship in Game 2 of the best-of-three title series on Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

“I think I can improve more on defense,” said Dy.

Another win will give the Lady Spikers, runners-up to the Lady Eagles in the last two seasons, their first championship since 2013.

“We need to adjust,” said Dy. “We shouldn’t be contented with that kind of game we played [in Game 1].”