More Than the Pretty Face: Michelle Gumabao Helped La Salle Stay Dominant

Over the course of the past decade, names like Alyssa Valdez and Rachel Anne Daquis have been the usual names we hear whenever we talk about the growth of women's volleyball in the Philippines. And while both Valdez and Daquis have played their roles in pushing the local volleyball scene to almost the same level as that of basketball in terms of popularity, 

And while the Ateneo Blue Eagles have been dominating the collegiate basketball in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), the women's volleyball in the collegiate ranks has been dominated almost exclusively by the De La Salle Lady Spikers under the legendary Ramil de Jesus who took over at the helm in Season 60. And while La Salle was able to produce future volleyball stars in the professional ranks like Ara Galang, Mika Reyes, and Aby Marano, there is one name that even Galang, Reyes, and Marano mentioned in last night's episode of Usapang PSL as one of the players who they want to be teammates with again: Michelle Gumabao.

Gumabao, whom Reyes and Galang played with during their rookie season in the UAAP as well as Marano who won the Most Valuable Player plums in Season 74 and Season 75, was among La Salle's mainstays as they completed their second three-peat from Season 73 to Season 75.  Gumabao's finest moment came in Season 75 when she was hailed as the Finals MVP after leading the green and white squad to what was back then as their 13th straight victory against the Lady Eagles. She also bagged the Best Blocker award twice in the UAAP. Unfortunately, Michelle Gumabao didn't return for what could have been her final year in Season 76 when the Lady Spikers swept the 14-game eliminations only to lose to the Valdez-led Lady Eagles in the finals despite being aimed with a thrice-to-beat advantage. To this day, pundits still believe that La Salle could have completed a superb four-peat had Michelle Gumabao had suited up for her fifth year.

In her brief stint in the Philippine SuperLiga (PSL), Gumabao garnered two awards: the Best Opposite Spiker award for the 2015 PSL All-Filipino, and the First Best Opposite Spiker for the 2015 PSL Grand Prix. 

Even though Gumabao remains as one of the faces of Philippine women's volleyball, her impact on the dominance of the Lady Spikers is something we cannot simply undermine and Michelle Gumabao is one of the reasons why La Salle owns the distinction of being the team to be able to reach the finals ten straight times and also, owns 11 UAAP championships. But more than the numbers she used to put up for La Salle, it's her being a great teammate- as mentioned by Mika Reyes in particular in last night's Usapang PSL, perhaps makes Gumabao a dream teammate even among rivals. 

Photo is from Yahoo News