National University (NU) star Bella Belen and University of Santo Tomas (UST) skipper Josh Ybañez display their strong leadership in towing their respective teams to winning runs in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 volleyball tournaments.
Known for their all-around prowess, the two former Most Valuable Players earned their second Collegiate Press Corps’ UAAP Player of the Week awards for leading their respective teams to big wins for the period of 20 to 24 March.
Belen, who tallied 21 points, 12 excellent receptions, and eight excellent digs in a 25-21, 30-32, 25-17, 25-19 win over University of Santo Tomas on Wednesday, capped off Sunday with an even better 24-point, 13-dig, 10-reception line as NU ended University of Santo Tomas’ historic 8-0 start, likewise in a four-set conquest, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-20.
Spotted teary-eyed after the hard-earned win over the Golden Tigresses, the third-year star gushed over how well her teammates performed to lift the Season 84 champion squad.
“We don’t want a repeat of what happened during the La Salle game. We had a lot of ‘what ifs’ and deep regret,” said Belen, who earned her second weekly nod this season.
The first-ever UAAP women’s Rookie MVP bested her teammate Vange Alinsug, Reg Jurado of UST Zel Tsunashima of Ateneo de Manila University, Casiey Dongallo of University of the East, and Angel Canino of De La Salle University in a unanimous vote for the weekly award.
Ybañez, for his part, had a historic statistical stretch as he exploded for a new career-high 34 points to go with 25 excellent receptions on Sunday to lead the Golden Spikers to an elimination-round sweep of three-time defending champion NU, this time in a five-set turnaround from a 0-2 deficit, 28-30, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-9.
The reigning MVP edged out Ateneo’s Jian Salarzon and Ken Batas, NU’s Jade Disquitado, Adamson University’s Francis Casas, and Far Eastern University’s Jayjay Javelona.
The Sunday stunner was a timely erasure of the Golden Spikers’ painful memory on Wednesday, where they fell in five sets to underdog Ateneo, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23, 26-28, 15-9, and wasted Ybañez’s previous career-best scoring mark of 33.
