There's no team as consistent as the DLSU Lady Spikers in the UAAP Final Four era, proving time and time again their status as championship contenders, even as players come and go in the Taft program.
The only constant has been La Salle coaching legend Ramil de Jesus and time-tested program that has produced all 12 women’s volleyball championships in the UAAP.
[READ: UAAP: NU, La Salle renew rivalry as Season 87 women's volleyball Finals begin Sunday]
De Jesus has been at the helm since UAAP Season 60, and almost three decades since, La Salle has continued to flourish under his care. Now that they are on the verge of another championship, de Jesus’ impact is undeniable.
But before the Lady Spikers take on the NU Lady Bulldogs for the third time in the last four years, let’s take a look at all La Salle’s runs to the Finals and how they’ve fared.
Season 61 - The beginning of the RDJ Era
Result: Runner-up vs FEU
Just one year after De Jesus took the reins in Taft, results were already starting to show.
In UAAP Season 61, La Salle reached the Finals but was stopped short of a first crown in program history by the FEU Lady Tamaraws, who at that point, had already won 24 championships prior to the crown in 1998.
Now-FEU head coach Tina Salak was instrumental in two previous championships for FEU before they went against La Salle in Season 61, helping the team win in Seasons 57 and 58.
Disadvantaged when it came to championship experience, La Salle fell short in its first battle for the crown.
Season 62 - The beginning of the dynasty
Result: Champion vs UST
It didn’t take long, though, for La Salle and de Jesus to finally get on the board as they were able to win their very first championship in 1999, beating the UST Golden Tigresses to signal the beginning of La Salle’s rise.
At that point, La Salle was flanked by season MVP Iris Ortega and the likes of Ivy Remulla, Demelle Chua, Sally Macasaet, Merriam Santiago, and Hollie Reyes.
Seasons 63 to 65 - Can’t figure out FEU
Result: Runner-up vs FEU
Despite the breakthrough coming early, La Salle was unable to figure out how to beat the FEU Lady Tamaraws in the next couple of years, falling to the Morayta-based squad in three straight Finals appearances from Seasons 63 to 65.
While FEU continued to rule UAAP women’s volleyball, La Salle was left looking for answers.
Season 66 - Solving the FEU puzzle
Result: Champion vs FEU
It took five tries, but de Jesus and the DLSU Lady Spikers were finally able to conquer their Finals tormentors, winning their first championship at the expense of the women’s volleyball powerhouse.
In a campaign that would trigger La Salle’s first true era of dominance, La Salle leaned on league MVP Desiree Hernandez to pull out all the stops in the victory.
Season 67 - Having UST’s number
Result: Champion vs UST
Buoyed by their confidence after beating FEU the year prior, La Salle continued to rule the league in the early 2000s with back-to-back titles.
La Salle once again nabbed league MVP thanks to Maureen Penetrante before beating the Golden Tigresses in the Finals.
Season 68 - The first three-peat
Result: Champion vs Adamson
It seemed like nothing could stop La Salle during this particular era as Hernandez once again dazzled for the Lady Spikers, taking her second Season MVP award.
In the Finals, La Salle faced a new challenger in the Adamson Lady Falcons, but the results were the same for the Lady Spikers.
The win marked La Salle’s first-ever three-peat — an occurrence that would become less and less surprising for the Lady Spikers as the years go by.
Season 71 - Triumphant return
Result: Champion vs FEU
Despite La Salle’s brimming success the years before, the Lady Spikers encountered much adversity in back-to-back seasons as they were suspended and forced to forfeit in UAAP Seasons 69 and 70, respectively.
Through no fault of their own, La Salle was suspended during Season 69 because of their men’s basketball team who fielded ineligible players in their lineup the year before.
Then the year after, La Salle’s wins were forfeited due to Jacqueline Alarca playing in the UAAP despite being on LOA.
The UAAP had a rule that players must be enrolled while playing in the league.Nevertheless, La Salle was able to bounce back strong when the Lady Spikers finally returned to the league in Season 71.
Now an icon of La Salle volleyball, Manilla Santos paved the way for the Lady Spikers’ resounding return to UAAP women’s volleyball, leading the team to the title against the FEU Lady Tamaraws for their fifth title overall.
Seasons 72 & 73 - Stalemate vs UST
Result: Runner-up (Season 72); Champion (Season 73) vs UST
Despite FEU being the main rivals of both the DLSU Lady Spikers and the UST Golden Tigresses at that point, La Salle and UST were also starting to brew their own competition as they met in back-to-back Finals matchups at the turn of the decade.
UST was the first to strike, marking the first time La Salle lost to the España-based squad in the Finals, in Season 72. With Shaq delos Santos at the helm, the Golden Tigresses were back on top.
But De Jesus wasn’t about to be outperformed as he regained the upper hand the very next year.
Alarca atoned for her previous miscues that cost La Salle its campaign in the UAAP when she won the league MVP, while Cha Cruz paced them in the Finals and was named Finals MVP.
Seasons 74 & 75 - The second three-peat, beginning of Ateneo rivalry
Result: Champion vs Ateneo
Talking about consistency, results continued to favor La Salle in the early 2010s.
In UAAP Season 74 and 75, Aby Maraño flourished under de Jesus’ system leading to two more titles for the Lady Spikers, marking their second-ever three-peat in the league. Both wins were at the expense of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
At this point, Ateneo’s Fab Five was already in full effect, with the likes of Jem Ferrer, Dzi Gervacio, and Gretchen Ho pacing the Blue Eagles.
But La Salle’s battle-tested program was enough to smother Ateneo’s rising status.
Seasons 76 to 79 - The Great Rivalry vs Ateneo
Result: Runner-up (Season 76, 77), Champion (Season 78, 79) vs Ateneo
La Salle vs. Ateneo has always been the iconic UAAP rivalry. But for women’s volleyball, everything really fell into place during the two teams' fierce Finals duels in the mid 2010s.
The two schools met for a total of six straight Finals appearances during this stretched, capped by La Salle’s 10th title in UAAP Season 79.
Paced by the Ateneo icon Alyssa Valdez, the Blue Eagles overcame a thrice-to-beat disadvantage against the Lady Spikers in an incredible Season 76 comeback.
Ateneo then followed it up with a 16-0 sweep for the crown in Season 77.
But in Season 78, La Salle finally stopped Valdez in the Finals thanks to the heroics of Finals MVP Kim Kianna Dy.
The Lady Spikers then re-established their dominance with another title, their 10th overall, with Majoy Baron claiming season MVP and Des Cheng stepping up as Finals MVP.
Over the six-year period where the two schools met in the championship, La Salle won four of the titles.
UAAP Season 80 - The third three-peat
Result: Champion vs FEU
For a time, it seemed that the rivalry between La Salle and Ateneo would continue on for more years to come.
But Bernadeth Pons had other plans as she rallied the FEU Lady Tamaraws to the Finals past Ateneo, to set up the first Finals clash with La Salle and FEU since UAAP Season 71.
In the final year of veterans Dy and Dawn Macandili, La Salle once again completed a three-peat, their third ever, by sweeping FEU for the title. Macandili was named Finals MVP.
Seasons 84 & 85 - “NU” age rivalry, Era of the Super Rookie
Result: Runner-up (Season 84), Champion (Season 85) vs NU
The return of the UAAP from the pandemic also ushered in a new era of collegiate volleyball: The Era of the Super Rookie.
In Season 84, La Salle fell victim to Bella Belen and the NU Lady Bulldogs, who stamped their class across the league. Belen became the UAAP’s first-ever Rookie MVP and powered the Lady Bulldogs to their first title in the UAAP since 1957.
Caught on the back foot against Belen, Alyssa Solomon, and other key cogs Ivy Lacsina and Jen Nierva, La Salle struggled to get back on its feet, even as the Lady Spikers were flanked players like Thea Gagate, Fifi Sharma, and Jolina Dela Cruz.
Everything changed the year after, though, with Angel Canino’s entry into the Lady Spikers’ lineup.
After Belen’s feat, Canino also nabbed the honor of being Rookie MVP, and sparked the fight back for the Lady Spikers against the Lady Bulldogs in the Finals.
La Salle conquered NU in two games, but it wasn’t a cakewalk as the Lady Spikers needed two five setters to claim the victory, giving La Salle their 12th title overall.
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Now, La Salle has the chance to gain the upper hand in their rivalry against NU, after going 1-1 so far in their two Finals matchups.
Not only that, the Lady Spikers also stand to win their 13th title in women’s volleyball, which will all be under de Jesus’ tutelage.
It won’t be easy, though, as La Salle currently has underdog status against the league-leading NU Lady Bulldogs.
With Belen and Solomon expected to leave the UAAP after this season, the Lady Bulldogs will be hard pressed to send off their seniors with one more championship.
Expect a battle of wits as well as de Jesus tangles with fellow veteran head coach Sherwin Meneses, who is in his first year of coaching the Lady Bulldogs in the UAAP.