Lilay Del Castillo delivered her best performance yet in her UAAP career — on the most meaningful day possible.
On Sunday, Del Castillo took the court with a singular goal: to give her all in honor of what would have been her Nanay Lilian’s 61st birthday.
Her mother passed away on December 10, 2023, and since then, the De La Salle University middle blocker has drawn inspiration from playing for her.
Fueled by that motivation, Del Castillo played a crucial role in La Salle’s 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-17 victory over University of the Philippines. She finished with 11 points built on four blocks, four service aces, and three attacks.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“Super, super proud lang ako sa sarili ko kasi alam kong proud sa akin si Nanay kasi birthday niya ngayon,” Del Castillo told Tiebreaker Times.
“Super, super happy ako kasi paggising ko, sabi ko I dedicate my game to Nanay, and ganun ang naging result. So big deal talaga siya sa akin. I miss Nanay. Happy birthday!”
Lady Spikers head coach Ramil de Jesus has started Del Castillo in all four of their games this season, and the 20-year-old sophomore has steadily improved her scoring output in each match.
She tallied two points in her first start, followed by five against Adamson University and eight versus the University of Santo Tomas. But on this special day, she delivered her best game yet, helping La Salle improve to a 2-2 record — tying with Adamson, Far Eastern University, and UP for third place.
Despite the milestone, Del Castillo remains focused on making an even bigger impact as the Lady Spikers push for a Final Four spot.
“Syempre, parang every game may laging mas more pa. I mean, this could be the standard, pero for me, hindi na dapat bababa. Dapat puro lang ako paangat, paangat, paangat,” she said.
“Every game, even sa training, dun ako kumukuha ng kumpiyansa — hoping na ma-translate ko siya sa bawat laro. Para maka-contribute din sa team at para hindi masayang yung binigay na tiwala sa akin ng mga ates at coaches na maglaro sa loob.”
