Angel Canino, La Salle stay locked in despite Holy Week break

For most teams, the Holy Week break offers a chance to step away and breathe. For Angel Canino and the unbeaten La Salle Lady Spikers, it is simply another part of the process.

Even with a Final Four berth already secured and a spotless 10-0 record in the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament, La Salle has made it clear that the work is far from done. The Lady Spikers may be in control of the standings, but inside the team, there is little appetite to slow down while the bigger goal remains unfinished.

That mindset was evident even before the break officially began. La Salle still trained on Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday before taking a short three-day pause, with the team set to resume practice on Easter Sunday. It is a brief window to recover, but not one the Lady Spikers are treating as a vacation.

“We’re not treating this as a vacation. It’s more of an active rest because our bodies really need to recover,” said Canino in Filipino. “As athletes, recovery is important. So we’ll recover but still stay active even when we’re away from the court.”

That approach has been a major part of why La Salle has remained steady all season. The Lady Spikers have now won 10 straight matches, most recently sweeping the University of the Philippines, 25-15, 25-18, 25-20, last Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion. The win not only kept their unbeaten run alive, but also formally extended La Salle’s streak of reaching the UAAP women’s volleyball Final Four to 16 straight seasons.

Still, Canino said the team is not allowing itself to be distracted by record talk or postseason implications.

“We’re not stopping there,” said Canino. “We still have a lot of games ahead, and we need to stay focused on whomever we’re facing next.”

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CANINO PA BA?

Angel Canino caps off a defensive rally between the UP Fighting Maroons and the DLSU Lady Spikers with a powerful backrow attack in Set 1 of the UAAP Season 88 women’s volleyball tournament!#UAAPSeason88 #LegendsStartHere #StrengthInMotionHopeInAction pic.twitter.com/9k7JDPVDvt

— One Sports (@OneSportsPHL) March 29, 2026

That has become one of the defining traits of this La Salle campaign — a team that has looked dominant on paper, but continues to operate with the urgency of a group still chasing something rather than protecting something.

For Canino, that mentality starts with how the Lady Spikers frame the season internally.

“I think what’s good about our team is we don’t focus too much on the big goal. We take it one game at a time and focus on what we can improve as a team and individually. That’s been working for us, and we’ve been able to apply it in our games,” she said.

So while the standings show La Salle sitting comfortably at the top, the team’s approach suggests there is no room yet for satisfaction.

The Lady Spikers remain on track for an elimination round sweep and an outright Finals berth, but their focus remains fixed on the next step rather than the bigger picture.

That next step comes on April 8, when La Salle returns to action against fellow Final Four contender Far Eastern University at the Mall of Asia Arena.

And if Canino’s words are any indication, La Salle plans to return from the break exactly the same way it entered it — still working, still sharp, and still chasing more.

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