MANILA, Philippines – At the start of every major tournament, veteran players are immediately expected to take the leaders’ mantle and guide the younger stars in the hope of turning in a prosperous winning run from the get-go.
The NU Lady Bulldogs and FEU Tamaraws, champions and runners-up respectively of the UAAP Season 86 women’s and men’s volleyball tournaments, have found those exact types of leaders in the first week of the new year, as wholly expected from contenders of their caliber.
For NU, a squad stacked from top to bottom with national team-caliber talent, fourth-year setter Lams Lamina took upon the monumental responsibility of orchestrating a well-oiled offense to great effect as the Lady Bulldogs surged ahead with a 3-0 start.
For her steady hands and steadier mind to lead the defending champions, Lamina won the season’s first UAAP Collegiate Press Corps Player of the Week award presented by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for the period of February 15 to 23.
Jhocson’s homegrown star playmaker immediately set the tone with a masterful 20-excellent-set Season 87 debut in just three sets as NU blasted rival La Salle in an opening-day statement win, before following it up with 14 more against Ateneo and 23 in a five-set thriller against contender FEU.
Lamina bested MVP-level teammates Bella Belen and Alyssa Solomon, Adamson’s super rookie Shaina Nitura, UP’s Joan Monares, and UST’s Angge Poyos for the weekly citation.
Over at the men’s side, meanwhile, third-year FEU star Dryx Saavedra took centerstage as the Tamaraws’ top scorer in their own 3-0 cruise to the top, capped by a historic and stunning sweep of rival NU to mark their first win over the Bulldogs in six long years.
After a pair of 13-point outings against against UST and UP, Saavedra took it up a notch higher when the lights were brightest, dropping 17 points against NU to put FEU as the lone undefeated team in the men’s tournament just three games in.
The FEU-Diliman high school product bested Ateneo’s Ken Batas, NU’s Leo Ordiales, and La Salle’s Noel Kampton in a unanimous vote by print and online scribes covering the beat. – Rappler.com