Marco Aviles was named to 2016 graduating all-star team

DMCI volleyball teams retain city titles

By Ana Daniella Ilagan

Three of Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute’s (DMCI) volleyball teams won the inter-division championships held recently at Sisler High School, and will go on to compete in the provincial championships. The Junior Varsity (JV) Boys and JV Girls played on November 10, while the Varsity boys’ played on November 17.

This year marks the 11th consecutive win in the city championships for the JV Boys’ volleyball team. The team, comprised of Grade 10 players, –nine out of thirteen of whom are Filipinos – won the final game against Sisler in two sets, qualifying them for this year’s provincial competition. After a hard-fought battle, the team ended up finishing the year tied for 5th place in the province.

Daniel Gilbert, who is a new coach for the team, experienced his first win with the new batch of players for 2016/17. One player mentioned that most of the team members acquired their passion for volleyball at Sargent Park School (SPS), although they did not win any championship games during their time there. They mentioned, however, that the Grade 8 team that beat them in middle school was the same team they beat in the city championships this time around, which was a relief on their part.

	JV Girls (back l-r): Mr. Filippin, Mrs. Ruby, Jhean Tiquis, Angela Romero, Kalea Panlilio, Alane Gargoles, Chau Tran, Mrs. De Grave. (Front l-r): Franzene Medina, Lisbeth Hildebrand, Rusheda Gibbs, Bella Amorim
	JV Boys (back l-r): Dee Eh, Edward De Leon, Edward Apolinario, Michael Sa, Karl De Sagun, Kiel Guico, Mr. Gilbert. (Front l-r): Jake Apale, Patrick Panggat, Noah Gabrahanes, Filipe Rodrigues-Vargas, Noah Almario, Angelo Apale. (Not in photo: Mr. Brown and Kieran Benson)
	Varsity Boys (back l-r): Janus Altasin (coach) Andren Antonio, Patrick Encarnacion, Andrew Galapon, Neil Cruz, Marcon Aviles, Robson Abraham, Ralph Damaso, Junell Altasin, Shawn Masesar (coach), Morgan Cheyne (coach). (Front l-r): Oliver Maula, Reymel Eusebio, Allan Turner, Ethan Twovoice, Isaac Hildebrand, Nathaniel Alnas, Renz Suazo. (Not in photo: Paul Lubi, trainer; Reimer Muñoz, coach.

Kiel Guico, the team’s setter, mentioned that their team looks up to their seniors, the varsity boys volleyball team. Karl Sagun, the team’s power, added that “they’re good” and that the JV team “always watches [the varsity boys] play.”

Guico also hopes, along with his teammates, that they’re going to snatch the title again in 2017. He added, “[We’re going to] work hard to win next year.” They also plan to follow Coach Gilbert’s advice to “Swag it out.”

The JV girls, brought back the title to DMCI after more than five years in their final game against Tec Voc. Their league record in the city championships was 12 wins and one loss, while their season record was 34 wins and six losses. In the provincial finals, they finished second in their pool, defeating Dakota and Steinbach. In the pre-quarters they upset the seventh ranked team, Transcona Collegiate, to advance to the semi-final. They fought hard in their semi-final against the second ranked team, MBCI, but fell short.

When asked what strategies they used to win, Angela Romero, one of the team’s powers answered, “I think it was being there for one another.” That group encouragement, with motivational speeches from each team member, helped to boost the teams confidence.

Six out of nine members on the JV Girls’ team Filipinos, and like the JV boys, most of the girls also started playing volleyball at Sargent Park.

Meanwhile, the Varsity Boys defeated their closest rival, Tec Voc in four sets. Oliver Maula, one of the team’s best players, said that one of their tactics in winning was “pinpointing [their] serves to the correct position.” He added that putting what they practiced into the game has also been an important factor.

For the three years that the Varsity Boys’ team has been part of DMCI Maroons volleyball, they have earned two wins in the city championships. Similar to the JV boys and girls, most of the varsity boys had their first try at volleyball at Sargent Park School, which basically influenced them to be physically active. Now that they are at DMCI, things are a little more serious.

Some mention that they lose sleep due to practicing everyday. Some also mention that they lose time for academics. The demand is quite heavy since the varsity boys are also a part of the graduating class of 2016 - 2017. However, it’s just a matter of sacrifice, as a team member mentioned.

Moreover, the team also names Ms Ruby, a Grade 11 Biology teacher and volleyball coach, as one of their inspirations in playing volleyball. “She’s a big part of the volleyball teams at DMCI,” said Reymel Eusebio.

This year, one of the Varsity Boys’ top players, Marco Aviles, a Filipino, was included in the 2016 graduating all-star team. It comprises of the 26 best graduating athletes of the 2016 - 2017 volleyball season.

Aviles comments, “Everything we do is because of the love of the game. All the sacrifices, all the sleep that we lost is because we love the game, and we sacrifice everything to play.”