Shaina Nitura, Fhei Sagaysay, and MG Del Moral — the Baby Falcons trio in Adamson University’s dominant 16-0 championship run in the UAAP Season 86 Girls’ Volleyball Tournament — had previously committed to continue their collegiate careers with the Lady Falcons.
With the homegrown trio reaffirming their commitment, they were expected to help Adamson regain competitiveness following the departures of Lucille Almonte, Ishie Lalongisip, Lorene Toring, and Angge Alcantara.
All four exited after a disappointing 3-11 finish in Season 86.
However, despite making an immediate impact alongside Nitura and Sagaysay in the 2024 Shakey’s Super League Pre-season Championship, Del Moral was unexpectedly left off Adamson’s final roster just days before the start of the UAAP Season 87 Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Sources close to Tiebreaker Times indicated that the Season 86 2nd Best Middle Blocker nearly transferred to College of St. Benilde.
Ahead of Adamson’s first-round match-up against De La Salle University on Saturday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre, head coach JP Yude quickly dismissed rumors that Del Moral had transferred to CSB.
(C) Roman Prospero/SSL
“Hindi. Hindi naman siya totally umalis. Nandiyan naman siya at kinausap namin siya,” Yude told Tiebreaker Times.
“Syempre, nandoon yung care pa rin namin sa bata ever since high school. Hindi namin control ‘yon, pero control namin on how we respond sa situation. Si MG, nandiyan pa rin yan sa Adamson,” he added.
Yude further explained that certain factors beyond Adamson’s control influenced the situation regarding Del Moral’s rumored transfer to CSB.
Now that Del Moral remains with the Lady Falcons, Yude is focused on moving forward as Adamson aims to return to the Final Four for the first time since Season 85 in 2023.
“Hindi natin mapre-predict yung mga ganoong bagay, may ganon talaga na instances. For us naman, we are moving forward naman sa mga ganoong nangyari at sitwasyon. Wala siya sa roster at lineup, yes. Wala talaga siya,” the concurrent Baby Falcons coach explained.
“‘Yon lang masasagot ko diyan, pero siyempre kailangan din namin na hindi na masyado palawakin yung issue kasi focus na kami sa game at season. Pero, si MG, nandiyan pa rin.”
Moving forward, Yude is not relying on just one player to fill the void left by Del Moral. Instead, he expects a collective effort from the entire team.
That teamwork will be crucial as Adamson faces its first major test of Season 87 against La Salle, led by Angel Canino and Shevana Laput.
If the Lady Falcons manage to pull off an upset, it would mark the first time in head coach Ramil de Jesus’ 28-year tenure that La Salle starts a UAAP season 0-2.
“Lahat dapat mag-step up, collective effort na ito ‘eh, especially sa mga middles ko. Pero at the end of the day, nandoon tiwala ko. Kinukuha naman namin sa training every time. I think tulad ng last time, I hope lahat sila mag-step up talaga,” Yude concluded.
