La Salle Lady Spikers lost to Ateneo Lady Eagles in three straight sets in a do-or-die championship game yesterday. With the loss, La Salle failed to score a historic four-peat.
Hopefully, La Salle has learned its lesson. La Salle has been selfish to loan its players to the national team. As a result, all of its players were so tense during the championship game. The Lady Spikers were so unsure of themselves that they failed to even win a set against Ateneo in a game that mattered most. No one from La Salle exuded the confidence of Alyssa Valdez. Being able to compete in the Asian zonals, Valdez stood head and shoulders above the whole La Salle team. Valdez was able to carry her team as her experience playing outside the country gave her the maturity and skill to command her very best. As a result, Valdez' confidence rubbed off on her teammates.
The coach of La Salle will also do well to realize the importance of international exposure. In his head-to-head match up with Ateneo's Thai coach, Coach Ramil simply looked like a novice. Despite the language barrier, Coach Tai was able to bring out the best from his players using his vast experience from international competitions. Coach Ramil, on the other hand, could not do anything to pull his team out of the doldrums.
La Salle shoud really reassess its position of not lending its players and coach to the national team if it plans to do better next UAAP season.
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