La Salle stalwart Shevana Laput comes to the defense of Angel Canino after showing frustration during their previous loss to UST in the uber-competitive UAAP Season 87 women's volleyball tournament.
DLSU’s Shevana Laput stood by her teammate Angel Canino after fans nitpicked the former Rookie-MVP’s reactions after their loss to the UST Golden Tigresses last week, asking supporters to be more understanding.
Laput and Canino, both in their third year with the Lady Spikers, were subject to contrasting takes on social media on how they reacted after the tough 5-set setback against the Golden Tigresses, with most praising Laput.
The veteran hitter rallied her team after the stinging loss and encouraged them to cheer up. But Canino was visibly frustrated at the result, which left some fans chagrined.
Successfully returning to their winning ways on Sunday against the UP Fighting Maroons, Laput jumped to Canino’s defense and opened up about the side of athletes that supporters may not always realize — that they are, first and foremost, humans as well.
“I just wanted to be there for my team because I could tell they were all very upset. And [it was] understandable, that was a win that, for us, we believe that we should have won. But I could tell they were so hurt, and I feel like they didn't recognize the efforts they had put in. So that's why I was like, guys, up, up,” Laput told reporters on the sidelines of their win against UP at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“I [also] just want to strongly encourage everyone on the internet, please, to be kinder and to understand that we all are human. At the end of the day, we're human, we're allowed to feel upset,” she added.
For Laput, Canino was subjected to judgment without the proper context of the whole situation, and gave people the wrong idea about her teammate.
That is, when the cameras were already off, Canino was the leader that everyone was telling her to be.
“I heard what everyone was saying about Angel. And I do believe that's very unfair to say that about her because she's allowed to have that moment of frustration,” said Laput.
“What the camera didn't get was that after that, she also huddled the team. It was just, it [just] so happened on the TV, they saw me. But coming from that game, we just were like, move on, move on. It was something done in history, we can't focus on the past, we need to be in the present,” she added.
Of course, with so many eyes always glued to the women’s volleyball scene in the Philippines, especially the UAAP, there is always going to be outside noise that becomes unhelpful for a lot of the athletes.
For La Salle, who are usual subjects of these conversations as well, they continue to lean on each other in the hopes of shutting out the noise.
With their only goal of getting the championship and being there for each other, the Lady Spikers are holding steadfast.
“It's easy to just say, we don't listen, we don't care. But at the end of the day, we do care. But it's about surrounding yourself with that closed space that, those connections who will tell you they're wrong, who will be there for you,” she said.
“That's what our team is like, our team, we're very much there for one another. We understand one another. And we know that we're allowed to feel these ways.”