La Salle’s Lady Spikers won momentum war
DE LA SALLE University’s reacquisition of the UAAP women’s volleyball title last Saturday at Smart Araneta Coliseum completed a victory in a momentum war with rival Ateneo de Manila University.
It marked the fifth time both schools met this season and the fifth straight year for the crown. Each of the battles this year was marked by wins by the team that seized the opportunity to ride on a momentum roll.
In the first round, La Salle won in straight sets and then Ateneo won in five in the second phase. In the playoffs, the Lady Spikers won the first game via a shutout while the Lady Eagles fought back from two sets down to triumph in five.
In the third game that mattered, La Salle seized the initiative in the second set after losing the first and never looked back. The Lady Spikers had everyone on the floor contributing: Ara Galang, Mika Reyes, Cyd Demecillo, Kim Dy, Mary Joy Baron and Kim Fajardo all blocked, dug and attacked to keep the Katipunan spikers at bay and frustrated.
La Salle was unforgiving in the fourth and eventually final set, even establishing a double-digit lead. In a sport that threw away the old side-out (must serve to score) rule over 15 years ago, high-octane teams like the Lady Spikers are difficult to catch once their game is at full throttle.
This is perhaps where the momentum opportunities present themselves. When one side acquires the serve and a full, powerful frontline keeps scoring and does not rotate, the opposing team ends up tuckered out trying to solve its defensive dilemmas.
La Salle was constantly finding a different player to score and kept maintaining a tall, attacking frontline almost permanently throughout Game 3.
The fatigue of trying to stay in step with La Salle was difficult for Ateneo. Faulty ball handling and several sequences of miscommunication dashed any hopes for another comeback similar to their previous five-set wins. There were even sequences when the Lady Eagles messed up plays on who was supposed to attack in crucial stretches of the third set.
In sum, the Lady Eagles had 33 miscues, far too many for a championship battle.
The exit of key players from both camps after this season will mark the need for major rebuilding and could be the cue for the other UAAP schools to make their move.
La Salle will lose Fajardo, Galang, Reyes as well as Maria Esperanza and Carol Cerveza while Ateneo starters Alyssa Valdez and Amy Ahomiro and the popular Mae Tajima have played out their UAAP eligibility.
It’s important to keep the momentum alive and kicking even in the off-season and La Salle’s new title should keep coach Ramil de Jesus busy while relishing his team’s reclaiming of the title. There will be a new team to form and train for the new momentum wars next season.
