La Salle newcomer Jill Santos made her presence felt in a three-set win over the UE Lady Warriors in the second round of UAAP Season 87.
Expect Jill Santos to make a bigger splash after she had a coming out party during La Salle’s three-set drubbing over the UE Lady Warriors in round 2 of UAAP Season 87 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.
Santos, now with La Salle after playing Division 1 volleyball in the US NCAA for three years, scored six points in just three sets for coach Ramil de Jesus in the win over UE. She previously played sparingly for the Lady Spikers, mainly owing to their stacked rotation of wing spikers.
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But against Lady Warriors, who provided a strong test for La Salle in the first and third sets, Santos was able to get her minutes in and made the most of them.
Having shown her mettle against a win-hungry UE side, the 22-year-old wants to continue making an impact for La Salle as best as she can, especially now that the race for the Final Four is continuing to heat up.
“I'm really glad that I was able to contribute and perform for the team today, you know, I think I hope I can be more of a building block to our confidence as we start during the postseason as well,” Santos told reporters at the sidelines after their win over UE.
Despite waiting a long time before having her time to shine this season, Santos wasn’t one to be impatient.
After going through multiple systems and schools during her long-winding journey to La Salle, Santos was grateful for the time that she spent on the bench as she was able to learn the ropes and get adjusted to de Jesus’ system.
“I think I'm in my adjustment process, you know, no one is exempt from that adjustment process, we all got to trust the process. That's what they say, and you know, on the court, off the court, you always learn so much,” she said.
“Adjusting to a new system, a new style of play, it takes a lot of hard work, and you know, I'm grateful for the coaches, I trust in them very much, and my teammates, of course, because they're like the best support system I could ask for,” Santos added.
At the end of the day, it was a fairytale breakout game for Santos who also got to experience playing in one of the UAAP’s biggest stage, which she admitted was nothing like she ever experienced when she played in other leagues, even in the US with the University of Illinois Chicago.
“There's no other atmosphere like the UAAP, you know, I've been through a lot of other leagues, but the UAAP is, it's incredible. I love playing, it's always an electrically charged atmosphere, school pride is different,” she said.
“It's been an honor to play in the Big Dome today. I was just watching it as a little girl, but to be able to play, it's awesome.”
Santos hopes to replicate her performance as soon as La Salle’s next game as they face the UP Fighting Maroons in a clash that should have major Final Four implications next Sunday, April 13, still at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.