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UAAP women's volleyball second round advancer: Ara Galang's MVP season?

DLSU skipper Ara Galang is on an epic tear (Photo: Beverly Laurete-Hawksworth)

My beloved University of the Philippines (UP) Lady Maroons will now have to fight an uphill battle to crash into the Final Four for the first time since Season 66 as their pagoda Kathy Bersola is lost for the rest of the tournament after tearing hear ACL in their final match of the first round.

Maybe UP can still pick up two more wins in the second round, but it appears that preseason favorites (to make the playoffs) National

University (NU) and Far Eastern University (FEU) look to be on the rise, and, of course, we can’t discount the fighting hearts of the surprising Adamson University Lady Falcons and even perhaps the struggling University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses could pick up the pieces.

In short, the race for the last two berths in the semifinals is still wide open and as the action resumes on Wednesday (January 21st—coniciding with Game #1 of the NCAA volleyball finals and Game #7 of the PBA Philippine Cup championship), the separation could begin to be seen.

I’m already conceding the first two semis slots to last season’s finalists: the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Spikers and the defending queens Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles. After all, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they could be on another collision course for the title.

But of all the contenders to the throne of the Katpuneras, DLSU still has the best shot of dislodging them due to the all-world performance thus far of one Victonara S. Galang from Pampanga.

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I know it’s hard to fathom that this former league Rookie of the Year is now a senior. It feels like it was only yesterday that she was lining up with the likes of Cha Cruz, Michele Gumabao and Abigail Maraño as a wide-eyed greenhorn seemingly oblivious to the grandeur of playing in the bright lights of the UAAP and was being deemed the “future of DLSU volleyball”. Well, that prediction is now in its maturity as with the departure of Maraño, Galang now becomes the first and best option of the team.

Don’t let the loss to Ateneo fool you. Yes, she the former Angeles University Foundation (AUF) stalwart only managed to contribute a mere eleven points in their heartbreaking five-set loss to the Lady Eagles, but her numbers throughout the season have been consistent and the knock on her being “weak” on defense has now become officially debunked.

In the past, Galang had Gumabao, Maraño and libero-extraordinaire Melissa Gohing doing all the defensive work for a very good reason: so that Galang can excel in her role of scoring a lot of points (like they did for Cruz and former star spiker Stephanie Mercado before her), and hence she wasn’t “required” to do much of the dirty work. When Gumabao and Gohing graduated, the team still had Maraño as their defensive rock and—with the help of budding quicker Mika Reyes—diffused most offenses to let Galang flourish offensively; hence DLSU’s immaculate record during last year’s elimination rounds.

Now, there is no Maraño and a lot of skeptics were quick to say that the Lady Spikers would struggle against the likes of Ateneo, NU, and even UP due to their alleged incoming defensive challenges.

First of all , let’s give credit to Reyes, sophomore Kim Dy and newcomer Christine Soyud for combining to do Maraño’s former task, as well as opener Cyd Demecillo who has also stepped it up in that aspect. But Galang must have learned more than a thing or two from good pal—and former Lady Falcons skipper—Sheila “Bangnita” Pineda in patrolling the floor like a libero.

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It has become an accepted truth that the Lady Spikers’ libero duo of Dawn Macandili and Cienne Cruz are still works in progress and that being said, La Salle’s floor defense was going to be their biggest hurdle for Season 77.

Galang finished the first round in the top ten in the libero categories (seventh in receiving and ninth in digging) to bail out her squad from certain doom in that regard. By being listed among the elite in floor defense, she has made her mark on the team and has now fully claimed total ownership of her anointment as the team’s undisputed leader. She is, after all, DLSU’s Season 77 captain.

Her offense will always be there, but her serves have also been a steady weapon used by coach Ramil de Jesus to generate more points as Galang leads the league in aces with eighteen—just edging out national teammate Alyssa Valdez of Ateneo by one. This is one facet of Galang’s game that has been beneath the radar in her career, and one that the opposition must recognize and address.

As far as attacks go, we all know that seventy percent of the Lady Spikers’ sets from Kim Fajardo will go to Galang and while her success ratio leaves a bit to be desired, she still ranked eighth in that department with 33.21%. NU’s 6’6” pillar Jaja Santiago has a season-best 40.84 success rate, while Valdez is enjoying a career-best 40.19% through the first half of the season.

Hand in hand with that, Galang is presently third in scoring with a total of 126 points with Valdez (155) and Santiago (129) overtaking her in the last two playing days of the first round as Ateneo became involved in two matches that went the distance while NU experienced an incredible resurgence under new coach Roger Gorayeb which led to Jaja transforming into an Ekaterina Gamova clone practically overnight.

However, the one statistic that has been a very pleasant surprise for the Animo faithful is that Galang has emerged in the top ten in blocking—a very welcome development in the post Maraño era.

Reyes will get her net defense numbers as the Taft Tower spent the first years of her collegiate career learning from two of the most iconic: Maraño and Gumabao. But Galang’s fifth place presence in this category (Reyes placed third) speaks volumes of the total package she brings to the championship aspirations of DLSU.

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If the season ended today (one of the most irritating statements in all of sports, I must say), Galang should be crowned Season 77 MVP for being in the top ten of seven of eight statistical categories while topping the scoring and serving race (something Valdez also achieved last year to get her MVP plum).

Valdez, for her part, is in the top ten in four departments: scoring (1st), spiking (2nd), blocking (10th) and serving (2nd) but is not present in the libero stats. Ateneo swept the first round though.

Here’s a bulletin, though: the season doesn’t end today and we still have until March to enjoy the action from the distaff side. Valdez will surely throw her game into another gear (as she always does at the end of January) and with revitalization of Santiago, the MVP race could be a three dog sprint.

Or will it?

Nicole Tiamzon of the Lady Maroons has turned out to be quite the story in her “conversion” year while FEU’s Bernadeth Pons is just heating up. How about rookie sensation EJ Laure of UST and the blossoming Lady Falcon Jessica Galanza?

See you all in the second round. Let’s get it on.

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com