De La Salle University prized rookie Angel Canino already showed signs of leadership right on her first game in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 women's volleyball tournament.

Canino passed her baptism of fire with flying colors as she displayed what she could bring to the table in the Lady Spikers' 25-20, 16-25, 25-8, 15-25, 16-14, escape over University of Santo Tomas last Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The highly-recruited freshman dropped a team-high 18 points including two crucial markers in the fifth set. Canino was also active on floor defense, tallying 11 excellent receptions aside from the intangibles she contributed in the match.

She was calm and composed in the deciding frame, showing no signs of jitters despite the nerve-wracking race to the finish.

"Actually, I try not to focus on external factors. I just focused on what we could accomplish as a team and what must be done inside (the court)," the Season 81 UAAP girls Most Valuable Player said.

"That's why I was able to contribute as well as my teammates."

Canino, who led De La Salle-Zobel in its 2018 high school conquest at the expense of powerhouse Nazareth School of National University, pushed La Salle's lead to 10-8 in the fifth set.

Although she fumbled on her serve in the next play, Canino made up for it with good defensive effort.

"At our minds we already know we got this game. It's ours. We will show what we are as Lady Spikers," she said. "We tried to push ourselves because we know we still have a lot more left in the tank."

"That's what pulled us through in the fifth set. That we pushed ourselves to the limit and gave our all."

Canino was elated with the result La Salle gained and what she was able to deliver in her first game. The confidence and morale boost that she would bring moving forward.

"I'm very happy because it's my dream to play at MoA (Arena), in the UAAP college and now I'm here. I didn't expect that I'll play this way and would get a good result in my first game," she said.