FRESH OFF their bronze finish in the UAAP Season 87 men’s volleyball campaign, three UST Golden Spikers bagged individual awards on May 14, Wednesday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Open spiker Jan Julian “JJ” Macam, who stepped up during Josh Ybañez’s absence due to an ankle injury, led the pack and snagged the Rookie of the Year award with 74.681 statistical points (SPs)—becoming the first Golden Spiker to win it since Ybañez two years ago.
The Red Warrior-turned-Tiger rose to the occasion, tallying 146 points from 112 attacks, 17 blocks and 17 service aces. He also earned the 2nd Best Outside Hitter nod with 259 position points, only trailing the eventual MVP Kennedy Batas’s 289.
Orchestrating UST’s offense, team captain and playmaker Dux Yambao grabbed the Best Setter award after leading all setters with 5.85 excellent sets per frame in the elimination round.
Rounding out UST’s awardees, Golden Spiker Popoy Colinares claimed the league’s Best Middle Blocker honors with 227 points. He finished second in total blocks with 33, averaging 0.70 blocks per set.
The middle blocker also placed third in service aces with 17, averaging 0.36 aces per frame, which is right behind teammate Macam, who ranked second in the department.
Meanwhile, Ateneo’s Batas nabbed the MVP award despite missing the Final Four, ending Ybañez’s two-year reign.
The 23-year-old Blue Eagle topped the leaderboard with 79.815 SPs. Batas scored the second-most points in the elimination round with 263 and was fourth in spiking with a 44.79% success rate.
No awards for Golden Tigresses
In the women’s division, no player from the Golden Tigresses secured an individual award this campaign.
Tigress co-captain and libero Detdet Pepito missed out on her third consecutive Best Libero award after ranking third behind this season’s top receiver DLSU’s Lyka de Leon (47.31% efficiency), and top digger, UE’s Angelica Reyes (4.49 per set).
Pepito ranked second in digs (3.96 per set) and fourth in receptions (42.38% efficiency).
It was a tightly contested race all season for the Best Setter nod. NU’s Camilla Lamina led the league with 5.34 excellent sets per frame to beat out Tigress playmaker Cassie Carballo, who averaged 4.89 sets.
Sophomore Angge Poyos, who burst into the scene last year as Rookie of the Year and the Best Outside Hitter, also fell short of an individual citation this season.
She finished the eliminations as the league’s third-best scorer with 251 points but failed to crack the top five in both spiking and serving departments.
Meanwhile, Lady Bulldogs’ captain Bella Belen cemented her legacy in women’s volleyball history after running away with her third MVP award in four seasons (96.23 SPs).
The runner-up for the top prize was super rookie Shaina Nitura of Adamson, who shattered the single-season scoring record with 371 total points. F – S. C. dela Cuesta and F. M. Violeta
