‘Fighter’ Angel Canino continues to impress heading into UAAP debut

La Salle’s Angel Canino (12) celebrates with her teammates during a game against UST in the Shakey’s Super League. –SSL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — After an impressive showing in the Shakey’s Super League, Angel Canino is raring for her UAAP debut with the De La Salle Lady Spikers as she is looking to improve more ahead of the Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament next year.

The 19-year-old Canino showed maturity beyond years in her first tournament as a Lady Spiker, stepping up when it mattered most in the winner-take-all final before falling to National University anew, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20, on Saturday at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The league’s 1st Best Outside spiker said she was not the only one who left it all on the floor.

“Hindi naman sa kaya ko lang mag-lead sa team. Lahat kami kaya naman mag-lead eh. So, ginawa lang namin ang best namin and mag-enjoy sa loob ng court,” said Canino, who topscored for La Salle with 14 points.

“Parati kaming nire-remind ng coaches na we have to do our best lang, enjoy lang kung ano man ang kalabasan, kailangan maging masaya kami kasi alam namin na ginawa namin ang 101% namin.”

(I’m not the only one who can lead our team. Everyone is giving their best and enjoyed the game. Our coaches always remind us to give our best regardless of the result. We are happy because we know that we gave our 101 percent.)

‘A FIGHTER’

La Salle coach Noel Orcullo lauded Canino for playing her heart out and showing a lot of promise in her first tournament as a college athlete.

“This kid is a fighter. She played her heart out. Even she’s playing through pain, she continued fighting,” said Orcullo in Filipino. “Her determination to win is unquestionable.”

Even NU champion coach Karl Dimaculangan, who has led the sweep of La Salle in their past five meetings, was impressed with Canino’s play.

“They are a better attacking team now.  And as you saw, Canino is a fighter. Angel will give headache to the teams in the UAAP,” Dimaculangan said in Filipino.

Despite failing to decode NU’s mastery, the La Salle rookie remains eager to improve and use another Finals loss to learn and come back stronger in the UAAP next year.

“I think we’re slowly getting there. But we still have to improve our skills and characteristics on the court. Because we are the Lady Spikers, we have to take our game to the next level and show who the Lady Spikers are,” said Canino in Filipino. “Of course, this is just the preseason. We all know that we still haven’t reached our full potential as a team.”Canino can’t wait to make her debut in the UAAP as she is eager to play for the Lady Spikers with a lot of pride.

“Very excited to show I’m in DLSU, I’m very excited to fight as a Lady Spiker,” Canino said.

“The Shakey’s Super League is a great experience for me before playing in the UAAP. It was a huge opportunity for me to grow as a player and see the things I still have to improve,” she added.