UST men’s and women’s stars Josh Ybañez and Angge Poyos leading the stars for their respective teams in the UAAP Season 86 volleyball tournament. –FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — Consistency is the key for UST’s Angge Poyos and Josh Ybañez as they continue to display stellar performances in the resumption of the UAAP Season 86 women’s and men’s volleyball tournaments.
Coming off a 10-day Holy Week break, the UST stars hardly missed a beat and showcased their scoring prowess to lead their respective squads into the Final Four in the women’s and men’s plays, respectively.
For the third time this season, Poyos and Ybañez earned the Collegiate Press Corps’ UAAP Players of the Week for the period April 3 and 4.
READ: UAAP: Recharged Angge Poyos electrifies with career high for UST
The 5-foot-8 rookie Poyos put up another impressive night on Wednesday by resetting the rookie scoring record to 31, surpassing UE spiker Casiey Dongallo’s 30-point output and matching former Tigress Eya Laure’s 31 points in Season 84 last 2022.
By pouring in 27 attacks, three aces, and a block, the Golden Tigresses’ super rookie brought back UST’s winning ways with a 22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-20 win over the Adamson Lady Falcons to book a Final Four berth for the fourth consecutive season.
“Thankful kasi comeback game for us kasi natalo kami nung last game namin against NU. Thankful kasi nakapag-contribute pa rin ako sa team,” said Poyos, now with most Players of the Week plums so far.
READ: UAAP: UST gains solo fourth, beats Adamson in men’s volleyball
She made the most of the Holy Week break to recharge physically and mentally, leading to her explosive performance and UST’s ninth win in 10 games.
“Nagka-break, ginawa ko yun, nag-reflect ako at nag-recover. Thankful kasi nakabalik at thankful din ako sa mga teammates ko kina ate kasi patuloy silang kumakapit at lumalaban para sa team,” Poyos said.
Poyos was voted the unanimous winner of the weekly citation, beating La Salle’s Shevana Laput, and Maicah Larroza, FEU’s Faida Bakanke, and NU’s Bella Belen.
Meanwhile, Ybañez delivered the goods anew for the Golden Spikers with another triple-double performance of 25 points, 12 excellent digs, and 27 excellent receptions to resume their second-round campaign with a 25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23 victory over the Adamson Falcons.
Buoyed by their big five-set win over defending champion National U, the reigning MVP led UST to its second straight win, tightening its grip on the solo fourth place with a 6-4 record.
Ybañez, who won the MVP and Rookie of the Year last season, gave credit to his coaches for their trust and non-stop support to him and his teammates.
“Masaya din po ako kasi lalo na yung third set and fourth set alam kong may mga nakita yung coaches na hindi namin nakikita and iyon yung pagtutuunan namin ng pansin during the trainings,” he said.
Ybañez earned all the media votes, besting FEU’s Andrei Delicana, DLSU’s Eco Adajar, and NU’s Jade Disquitado for his third straight Player of the Week award.