For many athletes, one torn ACL is enough to shake a career. Two can be career-ending.
For JLo Delos Santos, however, it became fuel to return for Ateneo de Manila University in the UAAP Season 88 Women’s Volleyball Tournament, even after already graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, with tracks in Psychology and Communication.
After missing the entirety of Season 87 due to her second ACL tear — an unfortunate accident she suffered just two days before the season began — Delos Santos returned to the Taraflex in Season 88 with renewed hunger, passion, and perspective for the sport.
“I feel really grateful that I am able to play again because everyone knows how much I want to play and how hard I worked to be able to get here,” she told Tiebreaker Times.
On Sunday afternoon at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, Delos Santos showed she was ready, starring for the Blue Eagles despite opening Season 88 with back-to-back defeats.
The Sacred Heart – Ateneo de Cebu product tallied 21 points, 11 excellent digs, and three excellent receptions in Ateneo’s heartbreaking 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 23-25, 14-16 reverse-sweep loss to University of the Philippines.
Most athletes in her situation would have quit — but she did the opposite.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“Since it’s my second ACL, a lot of people thought that I would quit, but actually, it was the opposite. I was more eager to get back, and everyone knew that from day one, as soon as I got my surgery, I was eager to bounce back,” Delos Santos shared.
“I know that this has always been my dream and that I really want to play and represent Ateneo,” she added.
Now part of a rebuilding Blue Eagles squad composed of five rookie standouts, Delos Santos navigates her second full UAAP season against a highly competitive field, including contenders like the University of Santo Tomas, defending champion National University, and De La Salle University.
Even in a heartbreaking defeat that might have suggested Ateneo’s dominance over Katipunan neighbor UP, Delos Santos’ performance sent a message beyond the statistics. Now, she can compete and lead alongside promising rookies Ana Hermosura and Donna de Leon.
“Actually, if you think about it, I am also kind of a rookie in a sense because this is my second season, and during my first season, I did not really get to play. I know that these rookies look up to me as their Ate and I really don’t want to let them down. If that is the role given to me, I am willing to take it,” the 24-year-old spiker from Cebu said.
“As you can see from the game today, we were able to give them a good fight, and we didn’t just give them the win right away. We’re hopeful that in the upcoming games, we’re able to adjust right away from the things that we need and hopefully get that win,” she added.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
The road will become even more unforgiving for Ateneo, though. The team will open a grueling four-game stretch against the Growling Tigresses before facing the Lady Spikers, the FEU Lady Tamaraws, and the Lady Bulldogs, respectively.
Delos Santos, however, takes this taxing schedule in stride, saying that Ateneo’s youthful roster can grow stronger with time and experience — if paired with a refined system under head coach Sergio Veloso and proper consistency.
“I guess the silver lining would be, as you can see, our roster is pretty young, and there are a lot of rookies. But from the previous game, a lot of them were able to step up and fight through their anxiousness, and they really showed that they weren’t rookies today. I am really happy, and I know that if we keep a strong mind, we can eventually get that win,” she said.
“We have a lot more to improve in terms of the system. We were able to apply it throughout the game, but again, there are some lapses where we forget to. We just really need to work on consistency considering that our next opponents are really strong. We just want to make sure that we’ll give them a good fight.”
#WATCH: EVERYONE KNOWS HOW HARD I WORKED TO GET BACK HERE 🦅
JLo Delos Santos can’t help but be proud to be back playing for Ateneo after missing #UAAPSeason87 🏐#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/9itUc92CdK
📹 @ernesttuazon /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/AgMYDIiDCy
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) February 22, 2026
