UAAP: What happened in La Salle's 'nightmare' Season 76 and why Coach Ramil wants no repeat

The UAAP Season 76 women’s volleyball tournament remains a memorable one for De La Salle University head coach Ramil de Jesus, although not for the reasons he would have wanted.

“Sabi ko lagi sa kanila, ‘yung Season 76, bangungot ng team ‘yun eh,” De Jesus said on Wednesday after La Salle took Game 1 of the UAAP Season 88 women's volleyball finals against National University.

Just like this season, the Lady Spikers completed a dominant 14-0 sweep of the Season 76 elimination round and advanced directly to the finals.

At the time, sweeping the eliminations also came with a thrice-to-beat advantage, effectively giving the top team a 1-0 edge in what was essentially a best-of-five finals series.

While La Salle secured the top seed, National University entered the semifinals with a twice-to-beat advantage as the No. 2 team.

Ateneo de Manila University, bannered by Alyssa Valdez, finished third and faced fourth-seeded Adamson University in the first phase of the stepladder semifinals.

The Lady Eagles swept Adamson before stunning National University twice to arrange a finals showdown against La Salle.

Ateneo carried its momentum into Game 1 of the finals, defeating the Lady Spikers, 17-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-20.

La Salle responded in Game 2 with a 25-14, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24 victory to move within a win of the title.

Game 3, however, turned into an instant classic.

Ateneo won the first two sets before La Salle battled back to force a deciding fifth set. The Lady Spikers held a 12-10 lead before Amy Ahomiro blocked Ara Galang, while Kim Fajardo later helped push La Salle ahead anew.

Alyssa Valdez then cut the deficit before a Galang attack went out, tying the score at 13-all.

Ateneo reached match point, but Galang answered once more to extend the match. Another Galang block put La Salle at championship point, only for Valdez to tie the set again at 15.

Mich Morente eventually gave Ateneo another match point, before a crucial call against La Salle forced a winner-take-all Game 4 as the Lady Eagles escaped with a 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 16-25, 17-15 win.

In the deciding Game 4, Ateneo completed the dream run and captured the championship with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-21 sweep of La Salle.

“’Yung panahon nina Aby na na-sweep namin ‘yung buong eliminations pero ‘yung Ateneo, medyo gumapang ‘yun hanggang dulo. So sabi ko ayoko na maulit ‘yun,” De Jesus recalled.

Now holding a 1-0 lead against National University in the Season 88 best-of-three finals, the Lady Spikers hope history will not repeat itself.

“Every year naman sabi ko sa kanila, kung sino ‘yung nag-champion ‘yun ‘yung paghahandaan natin. So ito na, ito na ‘yung situation, ito na ‘yung pagkakataon na makabalik kami.”

“Makakaharap namin ang NU so kailangan paghandaan natin. Kasi sabi ko hindi naman lahat nabibigyan ng opportunity makarating ng finals. Eh nauna tayo, sabi ko kailangan pangatawanan natin ‘to.”

—GMA News