Inquirer top 7 UAAP 81 women’s volleyball players: Week 7

Every week, INQUIRER Sports will be ranking the seven best performers in the UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament. The author will base the rankings on the players’ team standings, statistics, and the intangibles that don’t appear on the stat sheets.

MANILA, Philippines—After a two-week period where three or four teams shared the No. 2 spot, all teams are now conveniently in its own place with Ateneo still leading the bunch at the top with a 9-1 record.

De La Salle now owns sole possession of the No. 2 at 7-3 while Far Eastern University is in third with a 6-3 record while University of Santo Tomas dropped all the way to the fourth spot with a 6-4 slate.

Fifth seed University of the Philippines can still crash the semifinals with a 5-4 record while National University is in sixth with a 3-7 card.

University of the East, the No.7 team in the standings, still has a mathematical chance for the Final Four with its 3-7 card while Adamson University has bowed out of the race with a 1-9 slate.

With that said, here are the top players in Week 7.

1. Desiree Cheng (De La Salle University, outside spiker)
Weeks on list: 1
Last week: N/A

Desiree Cheng. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The Final Four is fast approaching but there are still some players who are just making their first appearances on this list and Desiree Cheng had one loud debut.

Cheng struggled with a shoulder injury in Week 5 and was relatively passive in Week 6 but she broke out of her silence and led La Salle as the dutiful captain that she is.

The Lady Spikers went 2-0 this week and much of that is thanks to the handiwork of Cheng, who averaged 18.5 points this week.

Cheng capped of her week with 20 points to lead the Lady Spikers to a four-set win over UST, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 26-24.

2. Kat Tolentino (Ateneo de Manila University, opposite hitter)
Weeks on list: 4
Last week: No.4

Kat Tolentino. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Ateneo is the team’s hottest team this late in the season having won eight straight games after its opening weekend loss to the Lady Spikers.

And as the Lady Eagles continue to roll, so does opposite hitter Kat Tolentino.

The Big Kat stood tall in Ateneo’s three-set win over the Lady Maroons, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23, putting up 15 points to help maintain the Lady Eagles’ strong hold of the top seed.

3. Jennifer Nierva (National University, libero)
Weeks on list: 3
Last week: No.7

Jennifer Nierva. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Talk about a turnaround.

Jennifer Nierva, a four-time UAAP high school champion, broke down after the Lady Bulldogs’ three-set loss to the Lady Spikers, 25-20, 25-18, 25-10, on Wednesday but she quickly turned her fortunes around in just four days.

With a smile on her face and pep on her step, Nierva provided the defensive stability in NU’s bounce back win over the Lady Falcons, 28-26, 30-32, 25-21, 25-22.

In terms of the tangibles, Nierva averaged 31 excellent digs and 28 successful receptions.

4. Ivana Agudo (Far Eastern University, opposite hitter)
Weeks on list: 1
Last week: N/A

Ivana Agudo. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The Lady Tamaraws needed someone to fill in the shoes injured star Lycha Ebon left when she injured her knee in Week 6.

Enter Ivana Agudo.

A former beach volleyball player for FEU, Agudo was included into the Lady Tamaraws’ lineup for Season 82 as a backup for Ebon but when the rookie got sidelined it was up to the sand court specialist to step up.

In FEU’s lone game this week, Agudo showed she can roll indoors putting up 12 points in the Lady Tamaraws’ five-set win over UE, 25-15, 16-25, 12-25, 25-22, 17-15.

5. Eya Laure (University of Santo Tomas, outside spiker)
Weeks on list: 5
Last week: No. 6

Eya Laure. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The Golden Tigresses had a disappointing run, by their standards, this week.

UST had a chance to claim the no.2 spot in the standings but it’s loss to the Lady Spikers pushed them down to the fourth seed but there was still the production of Eya Laure who’s slowly becoming at par with Cherry Rondina’s.

Laure shared the highest-scoring average this week of 18.5 points with Cheng, but the only difference between the two of them is that the former’s team went 1-1 this week.

Still, Laure maintained her place as the no.2 scorer in the league with a total of 175 points.

6. Aduke Ogunsanya (De La Salle University, middle blocker)
Weeks on list: 1
Last week: N/A

Aduke Ogunsanya. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

The legendary Rolly Manlapaz gave Aduke Ogunsanya the nickname “The Duke” a season ago, and it’s not just because the word “duke” appears on her name but of the way she commands the net.

Ogunsanya is a couple inches shorter than her blocking partner Lourdes Clemente, who stands at 6-foot-1, but she shows that she’s still an impenetrable presence for the Lady Spikers.

In La Salle’s game against UST, Ogunsanya showed that she fully deserves her nickname with 12 points, four of which came from blocks.

7. Cherry Rondina (University of Santo Tomas, outside spiker)
Weeks on list: 5
Last week: No. 2

Cherry Rondina’s quiet week is almost a high for some of the players in the league.

In her two games this week Rondina averaged 14.5 points with Laure having the larger share of the offense.

Nevertheless, Rondina still held on to that top spot in the Best Scorers table with 186 points or 18.6 across the 10 games.