United they fly: How the ADMU Lady Eagles became UAAP vball champs

 

Too young. Too inexperienced. Rebuilding. Not a contender. These were the tags that most volleyball aficionados placed on the Ateneo Lady Eagles prior to the start of the Season 76 tourney. After all, this team faced enormous odds before a single game was even played.

At the conclusion of Season 75, the Ateneo Lady Eagles were a team in transition. Falling in the Finals to De La Salle over consecutive seasons stung badly, but they also lost several key components to their recent run. Coach Roger Gorayeb had gone back to coaching at San Sebastian. The “Fab Five” of Fille Cainglet, Gretchen Ho, Jem Ferrer, Dzi Gervacio, and A Nacachi had played out their years of UAAP eligibility. With a young core and Alyssa Valdez the new team captain, this team was not viewed with the same awe as the reigning champions DLSU Lady Spikers or the Shakey’s V-League Champions NU Lady Bulldogs. Yet right now, the Lady Eagles stand tall as UAAP Champions for the first time.

Building a foundation

For nearly four decades, volleyball had become an afterthought in Loyola Heights with the last championship won by the Men’s Volleyball team in the old NCAA. 

“It was around 2007 when [Ateneo Athletics Director] Mr. Ricky Palou asked Tony Boy Liao to help out with the program,” bares Benjo Afuang, Ateneo’s Head of the Office of College Athletics. “Being an avid supporter of volleyball in the Philippines, Mr. Palou wanted to raise the level of Ateneo volleyball, which was regularly at the bottom of the team standings back then.” 

This was not a quick fix by any means. Afuang points out that though recruitment was a big factor in the formation of the championship squad. It’s not all about going after “blue chip” recruits: 

“It’s all about finding the right pieces for your program,” said Afuang. “It all starts with the coaching staff. Having the right coach that understands the system and that has a great vision for the program will definitely lead to success.”

When Gorayeb took over from Ronald Dulay, the pieces slowly began to fall into place. The team also began to become a contender in UAAP and V-League play. These things also coincided with greater TV and media coverage for second semester sports such as football and baseball. Of course, there was heartbreak when Ateneo lost two Finals in a row, allowing La Salle to complete a three-peat. Losing five graduating stars made everyone more apprehensive, as 2014 was viewed as a rebuilding year.
 

“The Outsider”

Yet instead of waiting for future seasons, the Ateneo went for the jugular as soon as they could. The hiring of Thai coach Anusorn “Coach Tai” Bundit would prove to be a fortuitous move. “Coach Tai is a personal friend of team manager Tony Boy Liao,” states Afuang. “They go way back. When Roger Gorayeb was no longer available to coach the team and when all the top names in the volleyball circles were not available, Tony got in touch with coach Tai and, as they say, the rest was history.” 

Coach Tai, with his broken English, sideline dance moves, promotion of meditation during timeouts, and mantras like “heart strong” and “play happy” proved to be just what the Lady Eagles needed to push them over the edge. Afuang echoes this when he notes: 

“As we all know, he provided the inspiration and motivation that the team needed. And I believe that he was the only one who truly believed that the team could win the championship.”
  

Against all odds

The story of the 2014 Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team is one that few people will forget anytime soon. The Lady Eagles needed to do what most viewed as improbable, if not downright impossible, by going through several must-win matches to even make it to the Finals. One win over Adamson Lady Falcons and two wins over the favored NU Lady Bulldogs meant a showdown against their tormentors in recent years, the monolithic De La Salle Lady Spikers. Having gone 14-0 in the eliminations and possessing a 30-game win streak dating to last season, the girls from Taft enjoyed a thrice-to-beat advantage over any opponent who would have the misfortune of challenging them in the Finals.

Little did La Salle know that the team they faced in the Finals was different from the squad they defeated twice in the elimination round. Even as rookies Michelle Morente and Jia Morado announced their arrival on the national stage with a stellar Game One win, the Ateneans knew that La Salle would come back strong. With Eagle libero Dennise Lazaro twisting her left ankle early in Game Two and with fire back in their bellies, the Lady Spikers rebounded, making Game Three a do-or-die affair for the girls in blue. 

This was, of course, the environment that they most thrived in. When their backs were against the wall, Ateneo hammered out a five-set Game Three win after winning the first two sets and nearly crumbling in the face of the La Salle onslaught. The stage was then set for Game Four at the Mall of Asia Arena, ironically the same day that the Ateneo had scheduled a bonfire at the Katipunan campus to laud the second semester athletic champions.

Burn, baby, burn

“Honestly we were really lucky with the bonfire,” says Afuang, also the Project Head for the event. “We really planned the Bonfire [win or lose], but I didn’t expect that it will fall on the same day as the final game. We've always wanted to have the Bonfire immediately after clinching the championship [like in basketball] but the logistics made it seem like it wasn't possible. Plus we wouldn't really know how the mood of the attendees would be if we didn't win.

“I think even if we had lost that game, a lot of people would still go to the bonfire and the mood wouldn't be so gloomy,” he shared. “Winning the crown was really sweet, but it was really more of an icing on the cake, given what the girls went through. Win or lose, everyone would have regarded them as champions.”

Looking to the future of the team, Afuang states with no arrogance that, “It is possible to build a dynasty given that we have a very young core. With the new recruits coming in, the team will definitely be a lot stronger. But of course all other teams will beef up their lineups, especially La Salle.”

And so it was that the Ateneo Lady Eagles won their first UAAP Volleyball championship with an unbelievable straight sets win over the three-time defending champions, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21. This was a team of overachieving girls with a foreign coach who overcame a language barrier through his unorthodox methods and his preaching of self-belief, enjoyment, and fighting hearts. In the end, the heart was strong and the champions were Blue. - RAF, GMA News