Trust the Process: The DLSU Green Spikers hyped for a UAAP comeback
Hungrier than ever after a three year hiatus from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Spikers plan to make a name for themselves especially with a new roster and fresh faces. With National University (NU) Bulldogs as the team to beat this season, La Salle is ready to step up after falling short in their V-League pre-season tournament.
This Season 85 team captain and open spiker Vince Maglinao is confident that they will make it back to the Final Four and hopefully back to the podium this UAAP Season 85.
“To Trust.” Captain Vince Maglinao says with a smile when asked about what he would like to say to his team as guidance for this season. “To trust the process. To trust the coaches. To trust your teammates. To follow and understand each other and each rule. I know discipline will take us anywhere we want.”
The Warm Up
Due to the pandemic, the DLSU Men’s volleyball team has not been joining tournaments for the past three years — only recently did they come back in the V-League where they made it to the Quarterfinals, and the UAAP Beach Volleyball Tournament where they had a glimpse of their UAAP counterparts. This did not stop the boys as they honed their skills individually and as a team.
In an interview with Captain Vince Maglinao who played alongside Noel Campton in the recent UAAP Men’s Beach Volleyball competition, he had nothing but high respect as he considers their competitors this season. He believes that everyone worked hard even if they all stopped playing for a while but he believes that their main competitor is National University.
This is due to the fact that the Bulldogs are continuously looked up to this season. DLSU lost to NU in the V-League but the team considers this as an eye-opener to train harder than ever.
When asked about what their biggest strengths are, the boys believe it is how individually strong and capable they can play. With this, the boys aim to maximize these individual strengths into team strengths. This causes the strategic mindset where they will constantly consider the other. They understand that no matter how talented one is they are still working as a team and playing as a team.
The coaching staff agrees as they advise the boys in Green and White to build their bond with each other. This helps them work on their teamwork and team spirit so that when the season comes they know how to play, approach, and help one another.
The V-League helped the boys in terms of knowing what they still have to learn. This means understanding their weaknesses and turning them into strengths for the upcoming season. It was a good exposure for the Green Spikers to play off-season, just to get the feel of being back on the court.
Fresh Faces
The main difference from the Green Spikers is that the current roster only has three players remaining from Season 81. It is a big adjustment, but these Lasallians treat this as motivation to perform better than those that came before.
Rookie player Noel Kampton is truly being eyed this season by his team and the public ever since his debut appearance in the Season 84 Men’s Beach Volleyball competition. Other rookies such as Diogenes Poquita, Menard Guerrero, and Nathan Del Pilar are being expected to step up as they are part of the starting line up.
Nevertheless, Maglinao emphasizes that just because they are rookies it does not mean that they cannot lead by example and perform well or better than everyone to contribute to the team.
Familiar face Benjamin Philips, who is also part of the DLSU Green Archers, will be joining the Green Spikers in their quest. John Mark Ronquillo, a batch mate of Maglinao is someone who will also be expected to step up as well.
With the other UAAP schools preparing their Season 85 Men’s Volleyball comeback, each Green Spiker has their own role to be able to do what they have to do for the sake of the team.
The Road Back in S85
The journey back to the podium will definitely be long and filled with challenges for La Salle, as they believe that they still have a lot to learn and hurdles to overcome this upcoming season. Mind games would be their biggest enemy but as long as they persevere and continue to turn their weaknesses into strengths, the boys will be quite the team to beat.
With Beach Volleyball and the V-League giving us a sneak peek to the players, the Spikers kept their fighting spirit, never giving up on the game or on each other as trust remains the foundation of their team this season.
Each game continues to be an eye-opener to them whether win or lose as they strive for greatness and train harder and harder until they reach their goal which is to bring them back to the Final Four and hopefully on the podium itself.
Moving forward the boys from Taft are very excited to play and see how much their hard work paid off after three years of not being in the UAAP scene. They want to show the DLSU community how much they want to win.
“We’re hoping you’ll be supporting us since it’s been three years and it’s the first time we’re playing this UAAP, we’re expecting your full support, prayers for everyone, and our health so that no one gets injured.” concludes the captain. “See you in the venue!”
Come and support the DLSU Green Spikers in their season opener against the University of Santo Tomas on February 26, 4 PM at the SM Mall of Asia Arena (MOA).
Their other games for Round 1 will be as follows:
March 1, 12PM — DLSU vs UP (Philsports Pasig)
March 5, 5PM — DLSU vs ADMU (SM Mall of Asia Arena)
March 8, 2PM — DLSU vs UE (Philsports Pasig)
March 11, 10AM — DLSU vs FEU (Philsports Pasig)
March 19, 9AM— DLSU vs AdU (Fil-Oil EcoOil)
March 22, 4PM — DLSU vs NU (SM Mall of Asia Arena)
