Angel Canino showed that she’s a born leader in her very first game for the De La Salle University Lady Spikers in the UAAP Season 85 women’s volleyball tournament.
The 19-year-old highly-touted rookie was one of the voices at the DLSU huddle during the tight fifth set against University of Santo Tomas on Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
“Sa isip ko lang po talaga, ‘Atin ‘to, atin ‘to!’ ipapakita namin kung sino kami as Lady Spikers,” shared Canino on the down-the-wire affair which they won, 25-20, 16-25, 25-8, 15-25, 16-14. “Yun talaga yung nakapagpanalo sa amin sa fifth set kasi pinush namin yung sarili namin to the limit and binigay namin lahat.
“Laban lang. Amin ito. Alam namin kasi na gina-guide kami ni Lord habang nasa loob kami and hindi po kami nag-stop na mag-pray. Alam namin na lalaban po kami kaya sinasabi po talaga namin na atin ito, atin ito hawak lang, kapit lang.”
Numbers-wise? She did not disappoint as well.
Canino lived up to the hype and made 18 points including eight in the first set where DLSU clawed back from a 12-3 hole to a 25-20 early lead. She also had 11 excellent receptions.
Rookie jitters might not be a thing for the De La Salle Zobel product, who did not succumb to the big crowd in the venue – 6,849 volleyball fans to be exact.
“Actually hindi po ako nagfo-focus sa external factors, nagfo-focus po talaga ako kung sa anong kaya namin as a team. And nagfo-focus lang ako inside, that’s why naka-contribute ako and naka-contribute din po yung teammates ko,” added Canino, the Season 81 Most Valuable Player in the high school girls division.
But the 5-foot-11 spiker knows that she still has a lot to learn especially with her debut being a rollercoaster one after UST and DLSU took turns in taking the sets by wide margins before the close decider.
Interim head coach Noel Orcullo also pointed out what needs to be done and Canino instantly nodded, acknowledging her coach.
“Okay naman pero marami pang kulang so we have to adjust pagdating ng training kailangan pa. At least nagkaroon na ng confidence kasi nakalaro ng una tapos ganito yung game na intense at least confidence building ito,” said Orcullo.
