‘This is our time’: La Salle stakes early claim to UAAP crown

MANILA, Philippines – For the past two seasons, Shevana Laput, Angel Canino, and the rest of the La Salle Lady Spikers witnessed the NU Lady Bulldogs rule the UAAP.

But the Lady Spikers have had enough of the Lady Bulldogs’ dominance.

Demonstrating its desire to change the status quo, La Salle beat NU for the first time in two years and swept the first round of the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament following a resounding 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17 win on Sunday, March 15.

“This means a lot to us. Coming into the game, we knew that this is our time, this is our season. It’s now,” said Laput, who finished with a game-high 19 points built on 15 attacks, 3 blocks, and 1 ace. 

“We’ve let them have their time, but now, it’s time for us to step up and rise to the occasion and do what we know we can do, which is we know that we can be a championship-level team.” 

True enough, the Lady Spikers are shaping up as the heavy favorites to capture the title.

La Salle has dropped just four sets through seven matches, with four of its victories — versus UST, FEU, UP, and UE — coming by way of sweep.

It marked the first time the Lady Spikers went undefeated in the first round since Season 85 in 2023, the year they won their last UAAP championship, as they snapped a five-game losing streak against the Lady Bulldogs.

That skid included a stinging sweep in the Season 87 finals, where La Salle won just a single set against NU in the best-of-three series. 

“Our losses against NU hurt so much because we tried many times to beat them but we just couldn’t,” said Canino, who backstopped Laput with 14 points, in Filipino. 

“Now that we’re seniors, we promised that the moment we step on the court, we want to reintroduce who we are. We want to make a statement to our opponents. We’ve been waiting for this for a long time and we don’t want to let this moment pass because this is the time to show everyone who the Lady Spikers are.” 

But as outstanding as the Lady Spikers have been, they also know their unbeaten run means a bigger target on their backs. 

Aware how fast things can change in the UAAP, Laput and Canino are there to remind the rest of La Salle of the challenges that await the team in the second round, and possibly, the playoffs. 

“The beautiful thing about today’s game is that we were able to show that we can work hard, we will work hard to get what we want. Life is unfair but life will give you what you deserve so we have to work hard and earn every single win, every single point at that,” said Laput. 

“At the end of the day, this is a long journey. This isn’t a sprint, this is a marathon. We have to keep working hard. We can’t be complacent.” – Rappler.com