As the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA battled Emilio Aguinaldo College in their NCAA Season 98 women's volleyball season opener on Sunday, one player by the name of Shaila Omipon stood out for the Lady ALTAs.
Omipon tallied 16 points in the Las Piñas-based squad's straight sets victory against the Lady Generals where she was the second leading scorer behind Mary Rhose Dapol's 17 points.
Add to that, she did it in her debut in the NCAA.
"Rookie pa lang siya. Hindi ko ine-expect na ganun ipe-perform niya," Perpetual coach Sandy Rieta told GMA News Online.
"Mas malaki pa 'yung pinerform niya ngayon kesa sa in-expect ko."
("She's just a rookie. I didn't expect her to perform that way... Her performance exceeded what I expected.")
Rieta, however, had a possible explanation for Omipon's impressive performance.
"'Yung si Shaila naman kasi talagang fighter 'yan. [Ang] laki ng tiwala niya sa sarili niya. Every day gusto niya matuto, madagdagan kung anong meron siya ngayon," he added.
("Shaila is really a fighter. She is very confident in herself. She wants to learn every day, to add to what she already has.")
Omipon herself said she felt jitters coming into their game, but she eventually overcame those as the game went on.
"Una po, sinabi ko sa teammates ko na sobrang kinakabahan ako kasi unang laro ko. Habang tumatagal, na-adapt ko na, na-absorb ko na yung crowd. 'Yung pressure, kaba, nawawala naman po," Omipon said.
("At first, I told my teammates that I was really nervous because it's my first game. As the game went on, I was able to adapt, to absorb the crowd. The pressure, the nerves, all that went away.")
The 19-year old Omipon is a product of Sto. Niño de Praga Academy in Cavite and joined tournaments such as the Palarong Pambansa during her grade school years.
Omipon shared that it was her high school coaches that encouraged her to tryout in Perpetual. But why did she choose to join the Lady ALTAs?
"Actually po, di ko po masagot talaga kung bakit," she said. "Kung may dahilan man ako bakit ako nasa Perpetual, siguro dahil po sa teammates ko. Isang beses lang ako nag-tryout tapos madali po ako na-attach," she said.
("Actually, I don't really have an answer why. If I had a reason, I would probably say my it's because of my teammates. I tried out only once but I got attached to them easily.")
And after the open hitter's solid performance against EAC, Omipon said she will still improve herself for their upcoming games.
"Ibibigay ko po rin best ko, di naman po 'yun mawawala," said the Perpetual rookie.
"Kung may maibibigay man po ako[ng] changes is 'yung lapses ko sa game na ito. I-try ko po irewatch 'yung game mamaya and aralin ang mga mali o lapses. Try ko po 'yun i-improve unti-unti."
("I will give my best, that won't go away... If I can make some changes, it would be the lapses in my game. I will try to rewatch the game later and study where I did wrong or had lapses. I'll try to improve on that bit by bit.")
Omipon and the Lady ALTAs will face the JRU Lady Bombers on Tuesday at the San Andres Complex in Manila.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
