The Letran Lady Knights were suddenly in familiar territory after their Game 2 loss to the Benilde Lady Blazers in the NCAA Season 101 Women’s Volleyball Finals: a loss away from ceding the title to the Taft-based squad. Sophomore Leonilyn Padilla and the rest of the Lady Knights knew it all too well.
The pressure was on—maybe even more after Letran blitzed their way to an early 15-0 slate.
And so, Leonilyn Padilla and her teammates knew they had to embrace that pressure if they are to finish this season with the gold.
With a winner-take-all Game 3 on the line on Friday, the entire Letran squad had to recover quickly from only their second loss of the entire tournament. They did—winning in five sets to dethrone the four-time defending champions.
“I was really grateful po talaga especially kay Lord, pinagpra-pray ko po talaga kahit kahapon pa, kagabi pa… lagi lang po namin iniisip talaga na mahalin po namin ‘yung pressure kase alam po namin na may pake kami sa team,” Padilla said in an exclusive interview with Rebanse. “And ayun lang po, parang ie-embrace lang po talaga ,yung pressure and i-embrace yung role namin sa isa’t isa.”
Letran Is 5–0 in Five-Set Matches in Season 101
Thriving under pressure, the Lady Knights went the distance in 5 of their 20 matches this season—and won all of them.
Even more impressive, three of those five-set battles came against the Lady Blazers: one in the elimination round and two in the finals.
When asked about their composure in those crucial stretches, the former Adamson Baby Falcon said the key was not dwelling on mistakes.
“Iniisip lang talaga namin ‘yung kung ano ‘yung gagawin namin next. Hindi na lang namin iniisip ‘yung mga [naging] errors namin kase dapat namin kalimutan [agad] ‘yun and [move on na agad] sa next point naman po,” Padilla said.
Leonilyn Padilla Will Miss ‘Ate Juday’ the Most
With the golden conquest complete, the Lady Knights will have to say good-bye to several graduating players, like Natalie Estreller, LJ Isar, and team captain and Season 101 Best Libero Lara Mae Silva. But the one Leonilyn Padilla will miss most, if and when she does leave, is Letran superstar Judiel Nitura—or “Ate Juday” to the younger Lady Knights.
“Actually, really grateful ako kasi nakapag-laro ako sa senior year nila and mamimiss ko talaga sila, especially si Ate Juday,” she said. “Siya lang talaga yung ka-close ko sa team… really grateful ako kasi naging kasama ko sila and nakapaglaro kami sa isang court.”
Even with these good-bye, it looks like Letran’s next generation—led by Leonilyn Padilla and Vanessa Sarie—is ready to step into leadership roles heading into Season 102.
