By: Kim Yoshi Espiritu, Nicole Lim
The Letran Lady Knights claim bronze in the 2023 PNVF Challenge Cup. Photo courtesy of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.
Lessons come from defeat and failure; success therefore does not come easy.
Bonafide Coach and Letran Alumnus, Oliver Almadro, just proved that improvement takes time. Coming from a winless venture in the previous Shakey's Super League Invitational Cup, he, along with the hungry Lady Knights, recuperated by spiking their way through a podium match this recent month.
The Letran Lady Knights took the Bronze Medal home in the streets of Muralla after flaunting a 5-1 record in the Philippines National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Challenge Cup 2023 held at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum last November 25.
This campaign was owned by the heroics of opposite hitter, Lea Rizel Tapang, en route to her ‘2nd Best Opposite Spiker’ individual recognition from the committee.
The Lady Knights headlined their debut game against Rizal Technical University - Basilan with a victory in four sets. It was then followed by a straight-set winning streak from the faltered Arellano University and University of Batangas.
From the league’s viewpoint, seeing peak competition with the inclusion of local government unit-based teams flourishes hidden talents in the national level.
With Letran advancing to the quarterfinals, they made another stomping at the expense of Jose Rizal University, shattering the Lady Bombers’ hopes for a podium finish.
It was indeed a remarkable play from the only contending squad of Intramuros, containing all their opponents, but De La Salle - College of St. Benilde, to a single set takeaway in every match — displaying their immense growth in the previous months.
The CSB Lady Blazers was the only blockade in the Lady Knights path to Gold. Their semifinals bout forced the blue and red spikers to take their own poison, handing them a 0-3 match.
Letran snugged in third place, claiming the Bronze from the hands of the Philippine Air Force in a 25-14, 25-23, 25-19 win.
Familiar names such as Judiel Nitura, Lara Mae Silva and Daisy Melendres are the ones who stepped up in their matches alongside the other players which showed improvement to level up their system inside the court.