A YOUNG lady—tall and charming—walked into the Far Eastern University (FEU) Gym in Morayta in 2004 hoping to join the school’s varsity team in a sport she, surprisingly, hasn’t played with finess.
She can’t serve. She can’t spike. What she was good at then was to sulk in a corner and cry and ask herself: “Why can’t I learn the sport as fast as my teammates?”
Fast forward to 2016—or 12 years after that “walk-in” into the gym.
Rachel Anne Daquis has become one of the most recognizable faces of Philippine volleyball and has accomplished so much that her alma mater—which she helped lead to a University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) championship in Season 70—has retired her No. 3 jersey in a formal ceremony on Wednesday.
Now, No. 3 DAQUIS hangs alongside other FEU greats’ jerseys, including those of basketball stars Johnny Abbarientos and Arwind Santos’s Nos. 14 and 19, respectively.
“FEU did not let me fail to reach my dream. They accepted me even if I was not good at playing volleyball,” said a teary-eyed Daquis as she spoke before a supportive crowd that included her family, friends, fans, former coaches, FEU officials, current Lady Tamaraws and students.
Daquis transformed herself from a weakling to a superstar—with model-like looks as bonus—and became a two-time UAAP Best Server while earning a degree in Business Management.
One of her coaches at FEU, Florentino “Kid” Santos, shared his story about Daquis’s journey.
“If people remember her history, she was just a walk-in and we saw that she’s tall and it seemed that she had the potential,” Santos said. “She had the dedication and discipline. I used to teach her before but I didn’t promise her that I could turn her into a great player. I didn’t expect that she would be this good.”
Image credits: Roy Domingo