#ABYlieve: DLSU settles for second place

UAAP Women's Volleyball concluded yesterday with Ateneo pulling off a comeback in the series, surviving elimination five times and eventually besting the De La Salle Lady Spikers, despite DLSU having a thrice-to-beat advantage. It was a very well-deserved win as Ateneo showed a whole lot of fight and determination and really peaked at the right time, with tournament and finals MVP Alyssa Valdez leading her team to their school's first ever UAAP volleyball title.

Being a fan of the DSLU Lady Spikers since 2009 when I started watching the games on TV, I was (am still) naturally very sad that they lost. I was hoping for a fourpeat and I really wanted team captain Aby Marano to end her collegiate volleyball career with a championship trophy (she just graduated). Alas, it was not meant to be. Players like Mika Reyes, Ara Galang, Kim Fajardo, and Mika Esperanza experienced their first title loss since joining the Lady Spikers and their anguish was evident in their tears.

This photo courtesy of Joseph Nebrida from the GoArchers.com facebook page is pretty heartbreaking to see but it shows how much respect the team have for their captain.

La Salle fans worked on making #ABYlieve trend online to show their support for the player who has been the heart and soul of the team for the last few years. It will be tough for the Lady Spikers next year without Aby Marano, especially when you consider that current champion Ateneo won't be losing any players next year and other teams are continuing to get better. But hey, I will keep the faith and continue to hope that Esperanza's words to Aby - ""babawi kami sa susunod para sayo" - will come true.

I also hope that DLSU retires Aby Marano's jersey #2. I really think she deserves it.