Can NU’s Golden Generation exit the UAAP on a high note? Or will the resurgent DLSU play the role of heartbreakers once more?
For the third time in four seasons, the NU Lady Bulldogs and DLSU Lady Spikers will be battling it out for the UAAP Women’s Volleyball Championship.
National U seeks to get their elusive title repeat this time around, especially with the impending graduations of the Bella Belen-led “Golden Generation”. DLSU, however, has the chance to spoil these aspirations as they try to get the perfect ending to a rollercoaster Season 87 campaign.
Ahead of Game 1, let’s take a look at the latest chapter of this modern-day rivalry.
The story so far…
UAAP Season 84 served as the introduction to this brewing rivalry, with the Lady Bulldogs asserting their dominance over the Lady Spikers to complete a rare 16-0 season sweep. Led by then-Rookie-MVP Bella Belen, National U became the first team to remain unblemished against the Ramil de Jesus-led DLSU, according to league statistician Pong Ducanes.
The Lady Spikers, however, didn’t take long to get even. Now led by their own Rookie-MVP in Angel Canino, DLSU would roll through Season 85 with a 13-1 record, which included an elimination sweep over the repeat-seeking National U.
DLSU would complete its redemption story in the finals, outgunning the Lady Bulldogs in back-to-back five-setters to secure their 12th UAAP Women’s Volleyball championship.
The rivalry would hit pause in Season 86, with the Lady Spikers finishing in third, and the Lady Bulldogs winning it all against the UST Golden Tigresses.
But as fate would have it, here we are again.
By the numbers
NU: As with previous seasons, National U continues to flaunt a complete team on both ends of the floor, starting with an offense that topped the spiking department (35.74 percent efficiency), service aces (1.60 aces per set), and setting (6.23 excellent sets per frame) at the end of eliminations.
Defensively, the Lady Bulldogs set themselves apart in terms of digging, recording a league-high 11.75 excellent digs per set after eliminations. Their service receptions were just as solid, with a 39.59 percent efficiency only trailing the Lady Spikers’ league-best 40.34 percent clip.
While they don’t have the tallest lineup, NU is still the third-best blocking team, putting in 128 kill blocks, or an average of 2.28 rejections per set that only trails the lengthier Lady Spikers (2.33 blocks per set) and FEU Lady Tamaraws (2.45 blocks per set).
Captain Bella Belen continues to be the Lady Bulldogs’ heart and soul, leading the Bulldogs’ offense with 246 points (17.57 per game) on a league-high 37.76 percent spiking clip, and 0.57 aces per set as she flexed her lethal service game.
Belen also finished in fifth among the top diggers (3.64 digs per set), and third among receivers (44.44 percent efficiency) as she contributed to the Lady Bulldogs’ already-elite floor defense.
Backing her up offensively are two explosive spikers in Alyssa Solomon (15.57 points per game) and Vange Alinsug (12.85 points per game), while the steady hands of Lams Lamina, with a league-high 5.34 excellent sets per frame, continue to orchestrate the offense.
Defensively, National U has greatly benefited from the growth of Shaira Jardio, who blossomed into the third-best digger (3.64 per set) and sixth-best receiver (41.80 percent) for Season 87.
All in all, it’s still the same brand of NU volleyball that we have grown accustomed to since Season 84, which can be described as a well-oiled machine that can be difficult to counter when clicking.
DLSU: DLSU’s campaign can be described as a season of growth, given that younger pieces have arrived to surround the veteran core led by captain Angel Canino, star opposite Shevana Laput, Alleiah Malauan, and Lyka de Leon.
Save for their league-leading 40.34 percent receiving efficiency, DLSU finished second in spiking (33.68 percent efficiency), blocking (2.33 blocks per set), serving (1.56 aces per set), and setting (5.36 excellent sets per frame). Except for FEU in the blocking department, DLSU only trails NU in most of the statistical departments for Season 87.
The all-around brilliance of Angel Canino has been crucial for the Lady Spikers, with the captain finishing second in scoring (264 points, 18.85 per game), fourth in spiking efficiency (35.78 percent), ninth in blocking (0.45 blocks per set), and seventh in receiving (41.64 percent efficiency).
Joining Canino are her batchmates in Shevana Laput and Amie Provido, who have also emerged as sound leaders for their younger teammates. Laput, in a continuation of her Season 86 breakout, is Season 87’s fifth-leading scorer (246 points, 17.57 per game), and only trails Belen in terms of spiking efficiency (37.43 percent), and service aces (0.40 per set).
Meanwhile, lead middle blocker Provido finished with a team-high 0.53 blocks per set in eliminations, and joins a total of three DLSU players in Laput (0.51 blocks per set), Canino, and rookie Lilay Del Castillo (0.45 blocks per set) in the top 10 best blockers for Season 87.
Over in the non-scoring role, there is the emergence of libero Lyka De Leon as Season 87’s top receiver with a 47.31 percent efficiency, to go along with Mikole Reyes (4.29 excellent sets per frame) finishing fourth in the best setter race amid her many growing pains.
And as seen against the UST Golden Tigresses, a more assertive Lady Spikers squad is headed to battle with National U, with the team seemingly rediscovering a higher gear when the stakes mattered the most.
In booking their finals rematch against the Lady Bulldogs, the Lady Spikers went on to unleash their signature blocking against the Golden Tigresses, which was coupled with gritty floor defense, and even a heavier service game.
Early prediction?
DLSU’s suddenly lethal form makes this a tough prediction, given that their height and premium on middle blockers can actually exploit the Lady Bulldogs’ key weaknesses. If anything, it’s a matter of accompanying that advantage with the necessary poise for this year’s DLSU squad.
Should DLSU keep up this current form with a few kinks, then it wouldn’t be surprising to see a moment similar to Season 85, where they prevented NU seniors Cess Robles and Joyme Cagande from having a golden exit.
But at the same time, National U’s well-oiled machine is now accompanied by a sense of maturity on top of their longstanding chemistry and championship poise. No doubt that Belen and company wouldn’t want a familiar foe to spoil their own exits from the UAAP.
Either way, we’re in for some fireworks starting this Sunday, May 11, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Banner images courtesy of Cas Aseoche, UAAP Media Bureau.