By NIKOLE JAVIER
La Salle’s Angel Canino vowed to make her first heartbreaking UAAP defeat as motivation for the next season.
The Lady Spikers were dethroned by twice-to-beat University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses in five explosive sets on Sunday, May 5.
Back in her second game for La Salle following five absences due to a right arm injury she sustained during the Holy Week break, the reigning Rookie of the Year-Most Valuable Player was sorely missed in the rotation as the Lady Spikers fell to the third spot of the standings after the eliminations.
Keeping the sorry loss close to her heart, the 20-year-old outside hitter is already plotting a comeback in her head and all the ways she could redeem herself and the team from its fall from grace.
“Siyempre nakakalungkot din [‘yung] nangyari but hindi kami dito titigil. It serves as a motivation for all of us,” Canino said post-match outside the venue, her first interview in about a month before the break.
“Ito, itong loss na ‘yun. Itong season na ito, motivation na ito,” she added.
After La Salle’s second-round match against the surprise semifinal contender Far Eastern University last April 24, Canino showed up to the venue the following week with a sling on her right arm.
With the team refusing an interview regarding her condition, it was then reported that the young MVP had a “freak accident” which sidelined her indefinitely.
Canino then made her comeback for La Salle during the last day of the eliminations on April 27 against UST where they absorbed a four-set loss.
It wasn’t a particularly up-and-down campaign for the Taft based squad, but lapses definitely showed themselves all season long.
Exactly five years ago in Season 81, La Salle also fell short of booking the finals spot against UST.
As if the same scenario was written all over it, the Lady Spikers had it rough against the Golden Tigresses in all their three encounters this season.
Even then, Canino remained grateful to have had the support of the La Salle community which stood by them through all their wins and losses.
“Siyempre sobrang nakakatuwa kasi despite all the wins, all the losses, nandiyan sila. So, overwhelming and alam kong mahal na mahal namin sila and mahal nila kami,” she concluded.
