Teamwork was the main recipe but individual efforts of Thomasian athletes helped ensure yet another general UAAP championship for UST.
For Aaron Morales, team captain of the table tennis squad, winning the MVP award was just a bonus. The goal was for the Tiger Paddlers to defend the title and they did, thanks to Morales, who missed the previous season.
Tiger Spiker Jayson Ramos capped his collegiate career with four titles in five years on top of Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. The MVP plum was even more meaningful given the scathing criticisms on his supposedly poor playing condition.
“Many people were saying that I couldn’t be an MVP because I’m fat, that my body lacked proper condition,” he said in Filipino. “But I didn’t mind them. What’s important are the things that I learned in those five years that I played for UST.”
Tigershark and water sports standout Xavier Ilustre banked mainly on perseverance to emerge as Rookie of the Year. He brought home a silver medal in the tough 200-meter butterfly event.
“I didn’t expect that could compete that well because the competition was tough. But I tried my best because the team needed me,” he said.
Heroines
Lady Spiker Judy Caballero has gone a long way since she first tried volleyball during a tryout game in fourth grade (to think that she was originally into long jump). Not only did this 20 year old win an MVP plum, she also led UST to a beach volleyball crown on her third try.
But Caballero is not resting on her laurels. Her goal is to score back-to-back championships when she plays in her final year next season.
Macy Gonzales, lawn tennis MVP, remains very much committed to the sport and to UST’s UAAP campaign despite the accolades. It was a commitment galvanized by all the hard work she put in tournaments.
“Lots of changes happened in my life when I got involved in this sport. I learned to love this sport when I started winning in different tournaments, when I started to feel the pleasure of being the top seed player and the joy it brings when I became the champion,” said Gonzales, a former Asian Tennis Federation Under 14 bet.
Training is key
Women’s football MVP Marice Magdolot did not exactly expect UST to win the title the tough competition. But the midfielder, along with team captain Aiza Mondero, would not have been picked for the national team Malditas for nothing.
Magdolot, who still has two playing years left, credited hard training for her success.
“I prefer to suffer in training so that things would be relatively easier come the actual game,” she said.
Taekwondo MVP Dane Pio de Roda may have already earned a degree in Electrical and Communications Engineering, but he remains hungry for more after leading UST to the championship this season.
“This is my first MVP so it really feels good,” he said.
