History in the making. With a 6-1 win record, their best first round standing in a long time, the Lady Spikers march forward to overcome obstacles and fight for the UAAP championship. Photo by Ryan Y. Racca

Beat the four lower-tier teams: check. Defeat last year’s third runner-up: check. Defeat last year’s first runner-up: check. Defeat last year’s champions: zilch.

After the first round of Season 74, Coach Roger Gorayeb and his troops have yet to fully accomplish the checklist that will give them the confidence to finally quell the title drought that continues to this day. Fresh off winning their first volleyball title in the Shakey’s V-League Summer Tournament and managing to secure a decent showing in the Shakey’s V-League Season 8, the Lady Spikers now take on the ultimate challenge: to finally win the elusive UAAP crown.

Things do not seem as bleak. After seven games, the ladies in blue finished with a near-perfect, 6-1 record, their best first round standing in a long time, according to setter Jem Ferrer and middle hitter Aillysse Nacachi. The team only lost sets to three teams out of seven, namely FEU, Adamson and La Salle—all contenders in their own right.

Five out of the seven players that Coach Gorayeb fields into the court share 20 years of college volleyball experience. Alyssa Valdez, after playing only her first few UAAP games, has emerged as a shock trooper, injecting immediate offense when the team needs it the most.

The blot in the plot

The team took the first round in stride, relying on a versatile offense and a seasoned defense that compensates for the team’s apparent lack of height. All six teams were defeated except La Salle, who kept their composure and thrust the chip deeper on Ateneo’s shoulders, dousing even the tiniest flicker of winning in three straight sets.

“Defensively, there was a mix-up in the floor rotation, which caused some confusion. Meanwhile, La Salle imposed their game… We couldn’t catch up anymore,” said blocker Gretchen Ho, flustered. “Had it not taken a lot of time to adjust, we could’ve won.”

Whitewashing last year’s champions would have been huge for the Lady Spikers. The Taft-based contenders have always been the toughest challenge for their Katipunan counterparts, ever since the heyday of La Salle, when the squad boasted volleyball legend Manila Santos.

The Lady Spikers aren’t without excuses. Just a few days before the highly anticipated match-up, the team lost Coach Gorayeb to some physical injuries that required days of hospital confinement. Coaching for Colegio de San Sebastian’s volleyball team, he was purportedly involved in a fracas with the San Beda College’s men’s basketball team, which resulted in blows from burly six-foot-somethings, marring his other team’s most important match.

“Coach Roger was calling the plays from his hospital bed. Someone had to go outside The Arena just to get good reception and receive Coach Roger’s instructions,” said Nacachi.

Highs and lows

“Intensity. Definitely the lack of intensity on the court,” said Ferrer in Filipino, who brushed her remark aside with a sheepish grin. “Sometimes we’re too kind on the court.”

The core that the team currently boasts has coalesced into a family, sharing snickers in the court and canoodling in warm-ups. In earlier interviews, rookies Mae Tajima and Sarah Cruz have identified the team’s dynamic as that of a family’s, going as far as pointing out team captain Fille Cainglet as the team’s “mommy.”

“We need to get more assertive on the court. Kulang kami sa angas.”

Valdez agrees with Ferrer’s quips, but she put the blame not on the team’s lack of character, but on the team’s overall complacency.

“During the [Adamson] game, we only showed the eagerness to win in the fourth set. We would start games just trying to keep up with the other team, only showing the will to win towards the end,” said Valdez.

Oftentimes, the Lady Spikers would build an iceberg of a lead, only to see it melt away in the pernicious heat of complacency. This was the case in the skirmish against La Salle, where the team went full speed in the first set, only to wear themselves towards the end.

Full speed ahead

Looking only at the loss to La Salle would be outright pessimism.

The team emerged from the first round injury-free, with only a minor ankle sprain bothering Ho in the last game of the first round. The team also carries with it a four-game winning streak—and momentum as well—heading into the second round. Coach Gorayeb has fully healed from his injuries and will assuredly be present in his team’s every game.

The chips on their shoulders are relatively deeper, and, well, there’s always another match against La Salle to train for and look forward to.