Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez wins UAAP volleyball MVP

Alyssa Valdez. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo star Alyssa Valdez was named MVP of the UAAP Season 76 women’s volleyball tournament before the start of Game 2 of the Finals between the Lady Eagles and defending champion De La Salle Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Valdez, who led the league in scoring at the end of the elimination round, continued her superb form in the stepladder Final Four – leading the Lady Eagles to the championship round and two wins away from the title after ending the Lady Spikers’ 30-game winning streak last Wednesday.

Ateneo though, will need Valdez’s MVP form the rest of the way with rival La Salle, which nailed an outright championship berth for sweeping the 14-game eliminations, raring to rebound from a shocking four-set loss — their first defeat in two years.

The Finals series where La Salle once owned a “thrice-to-beat” advantage was now down to a best-of-three with Game 3 set on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

(L-R) Kathy Bersola, Kim Fajardo, Alyssa Valdez and Denden Lazaro. NOY MORCOSO III/INQUIRER.net

Meanwhile, La Salle’s Kim Fajardo was named Best Setter while National

University’s Dindin Santiago won the Best Spiker award.

Santiago’s younger sister, Jaja was named Rookie of the Year.

Denden Lazaro of Ateneo bagged the Best Digger and Best Receiver awards while University of the Philippines’ Kathy Bersola was the season’s Best Blocker.

Valdez was also named Best Scorer for the second straight season. She was also the league’s Best Server.

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