De Jesus admits La Salle an ‘underdog’ in Ateneo Finals rematch

DLSU Lady Spikers coach Ramil de Jesus. TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.net

For the fifth straight time, De La Salle University will face Ateneo in the finals of the UAAP Women’s Volleyball Tournament.

It all began in 2012 when stars Mika Reyes and Alyssa Valdez were just freshmen. The Lady Spikers claimed the title in the first two years of their epic championship showdown.

Valdez would then go on legend mode and lead Ateneo to two straight championships.

On Saturday, however, the year-long deadlock would be broken, with Lady Spikers head coach Ramil De Jesus claiming his team as the one holding the shorter of the sticks.

READ: La Salle meets Ateneo in finals anew, beats FEU

“Last time nagharap kami, kami ‘yung talo so lalabas kaming underdog,” De Jesus said. “Then sila pa yung No.1 and kami No.2.”

(The last time we faced each other, we lost, so we are the underdog. They are the No.1 team and we are No. 2.)

La Salle easily took the first match against Ateneo this season, but the Lady Eagles responded in the second round with their own win though it took five sets to finish.

READ: La Salle denies Ateneo of first round sweep in UAAP volleyball

Another thing the Lady Spikers did when they beat the Lady Eagles was take away the privilege of an undefeated team going straight to the Finals with a thrice-to-beat advantage.

Having experienced holding the advantage and facing the team which has it, De Jesus is relieved that no team is holding this incentive going into the Finals.

“Sabi ko nga noong first time na tinalo namin sila sa first round, lahat ng teams nagkaroon ng chance,” De Jesus said. “Dumali situation, unlike na na-sweep, napakahirap daanan ng sweep.”

(As I said when we beat them in the first round, we gave every team a chance. We made the situation easier because there was no sweep, which would have given us a more difficult route.) IDL