Ramil De Jesus is the most successful coach in the UAAP women’s volleyball landscape in the past 20 years with 10 titles to back that claim.
It’s not just number of championships that’s impressive, he also recorded two three-peats from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2013.
La Salle has a shot at another three-peat after taking down National University 27-25, 25-22, 25-11 and moving on the UAAP Season 80 Finals for the 10th straight season, and the graduating Lady Spikers are determined to get it as gift to De Jesus.
Seniors Mary Joy Baron, the reigning MVP, Kianna Dy and Dawn Macandili are all yearning for that third straight title not just for them but also for their father figure of a head coach.
“Personally, my motivation in winning the title is coach so as much as possible I don’t want to ruin the things coach has done for this team,” said Baron, who had nine points in the win, in Filipino. “We all had those players, those seniors, before us and coach has done so much for us.”
Dy, who is De Jesus’ leading scorer this tournament with an average of 13.35 points in the eliminations, said she wants the current batch of Lady Spikers to replicate the feats of the past La Salle teams.
“This is our chance to get back that three-peat and of course, after all the sacrifices we did, this will be our final test,” said Dy who had 17 points against NU.
“We want to show coach that in the five years we’ve been at La Salle that we are the players he produced. We want to honor him,” added Dy.
Macandili echoed her teammates’ sentiments, grateful for De Jesus’ impact on her career, including her rise to one of the best players in her position.
“This is our last playing year, and we want to have a good exit and of course offer this to coach,” said Macandili who tallied 23 excellent digs and 10 excellent receptions. “We won’t be here if it wasn’t for coach, we want to leave La Salle with no regrets so we’ll give it our all.”