Photo: UAAP

By Nate Castillo

Rookie Vida Caringal made her presence felt with clutch contributions in De La Salle University’s revenge win over three-peat-seeking National University to complete a first round sweep of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament.

Stepping up in the absence of Lilay Del Castillo due to an illness, the De La Salle-Lipa recruit displayed nerves of steel and dropped nine points in the Lady Spikers’ 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17, victory for a 7-0 win-loss record on Sunday.

Although coming in as a starting spot reliever for Del Castillo, Caringal insisted that she, like everyone in multi-titled head coach Ramil De Jesus’ lineup, has a role to play and not just a placeholder for anyone unavailable.    

Photo: UAAP

“First of all, I see it as not like taking anybody’s spot,” she said.  

“I’m not supposed to fill one’s shoes. I have a shoe of my own and I’ll walk with it. I came into game with that mindset.”

Caringal scored eight of her points from attacks on an efficient 8-of-11 spiking clip and added a kill block.

She scored all three of her fourth set points in the decisive 15-3 start of La Salle, which swept the first round for the first time since Season 85 enroute to winning the title.

Caringal repaid the trust in her by De Jesus with a stellar performance that allowed the Lady Spikers to end a five-game head-to-head losing skid to their Season 87 finals tormentors.

“Of course, it’s a big privilege to be trusted by coach Ramil. My coaches trusted me to perform and fight for the team. That’s where I got my confidence,” she said.