UAAP, NCAA stars light up awards night

Top collegiate performers in basketball and volleyball lit up the 2024 Collegiate Press Corps Awards Night late Monday at the Discovery Suites Manila in Pasig.

Kent Pastrana of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) was hailed as the inaugural Collegiate Women’s Basketball Player of the Year to headline a total of 23 awardees alongside Collegiate Men’s Basketball Player of the Year Kevin Quiambao of De La Salle University.

Pastrana steered the Growling Tigresses to their first title in 17 years, toppling the mighty dynasty of seven-peat champion National University (NU) with a thrilling three-game series win to win the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 finals.

Her exploits also made her the best choice by the Collegiate Press Corps for the UAAP Player of the Year for team events in the momentous ceremony presented by San Miguel Corporation also backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Pastrana also led the breakthrough Women’s Mythical Five with her teammate and UAAP Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Tantoy Ferrer, Far Eastern University’s Josee Kaputu, University of the Philippines’ Favour Onoh, and Kacey dela Rosa of Ateneo de Manila while Quiambao, who powered La Salle to the UAAP Season 86 title to snap a seven-year drought, bannered the staple Men’s Mythical Five with Rookie-MVP Clint Escamis of Mapua, University of the Philipines’ Malick Diouf, Lyceum of the Philippines University Enoch Valdez and Jacob Cortez of San Beda University.

“It’s our honor to be given this kind of opportunity sa women’s basketball. Thank you for this award,” Pastrana said.

For the first time also, achievers in the men’s volleyball were feted with well-deserved honors led by UAAP Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year Owa Retamar of NU and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year Louie Ramirez of University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.

Retamar pocketed the UAAP Season 86 Finals MVP and Best Setter while Ramirez captured the NCAA Season 99 MVP plum anew as the both the Bulldogs and the Altas won four straight titles.

But the night didn’t only belong to the players as mentors from women’s basketball and volleyball also made history.

Haydee Ong of UST copped the UAAP Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year with Dante Alinsunurin of NU and Sammy Acaylar of Perpetual winning the UAAP Men’s Volleyball and NCAA Men’s Volleyball Coaches of the Year awards, respectively.

NU’s Norman Miguel and Jerry Yee of three-peat champion College of Saint Benilde were named the UAAP Women’s Volleyball and NCAA Women’s Volleyball Coaches of the Year, respectively.

Also taking the spotlight of the event supported by Discovery Suites as official venue partner, Jockey, Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup and Virgil Villavicencio as supporters, were the winners of the staple awards in men’s basketball and women’s volleyball

For the second time, MVP Bella Belen of NU took home the UAAP Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year while Cloanne Mondonedo of College of Saint Benilde, the first setter MVP in NCAA history, won the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year.

La Salle champion mentor Topex Robinson was named the UAAP Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year while Yuri Escueta, who engineered San Beda University’s NCAA title run, was hailed as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year.