MANILA, Philippines—Milena Alessandrini’s rise didn’t stop when she won Rookie of the Year in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament with the outside spiker getting named the co-captain of University of Santo Tomas in 2019.
Alessandrini was chosen to be the second-in-command to captain Cherry Rondina for the Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament in what she believes was a reward for the hard work she put day in and day out.
“Maybe it was because of the performance I did because I’m very shy so I need to become extra vocal with my teammates,” said Alessandrini who’s of Filipino-Italian decent.
Alessandrini missed four games in the first round of Season 80 due to a shoulder injury but was still able to average 10.5 points in the 10 games, one of which was when she was used as a libero in her return against University of the East.
Despite being a wallflower in practice, Alessandrini said that she’s willing to take on the leadership role that her coaches entrusted to her.
“Thank you to the coaches for this responsibility and it’s an honor for me,” said Alessandrini. “I want to help the team do their best.”
Apart from Alessandrini’s shyness, there’s also the issue of the language barrier within the team since the new co-captain isn’t well versed in Filipino but Rondina said it’s not a problem to them.
“It’s a given that there’s still a language barrier between us and Milena but it won’t matter because when we play our hearts out there won’t be any problems,” said Rondina in Filipino.
“She’s a fighter and she’s always willing to be mingle with us whatever the situation and that’s one of the best things about her,” added Rondina.