When National University and De La Salle University first met in the UAAP Season 88 collegiate women’s volleyball tournament, the spotlight was on Regine Diego facing her mentor, Ramil De Jesus, from opposite sidelines.
That storyline now shifts to the biggest stage, as the second-ranked Lady Bulldogs emerged from the stepladder semifinals to set up a best-of-three Finals showdown against the undefeated Lady Spikers.
La Salle has dominated NU in both of their elimination round meetings, though the Lady Bulldogs pushed them to the limit each time.
The Lady Spikers took their first-round clash in four sets, 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17, before surviving a five-set thriller in the second round, 27-25, 15-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13.
For Diego, the Finals represent a chance to go punch-for-punch with the very mentor who shaped her during her playing days with La Salle in the late 2000s, De Jesus.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“It’s always about discipline with Coach Ramil and hopefully, ma-out-discipline ko siya. Hindi joke lang! Hopefully, I get to play at-par with him, I mean, not just play but with coaching. Hopefully, I get there because he’s always going to be one of my inspirations where I am now,” said Diego.
The first-year NU head coach also assured that her Lady Bulldogs will be ready to compete when Game 1 of the best-of-three Finals unfolds on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Diego is also hoping to make an impression on De Jesus, the first person who saw her potential as a coach.
“I am grateful to be one of his players before, and I know it’s going to be very hard, siyempre wala naman madaling Finals, but ipapakita namin sa kanya ngayon na kaya namin,” said Diego.
“Ipapakita ko sa kanya lahat ng natutunan ko sa buong life ko. Siya kasi yung pinakaunang nagsabi sa akin na puwede akong mag-coach. Now I’m here and hopefully proud siya sa akin.”
