Adamson’s super rookie-captain Shaina Nitura and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) two-time reigning Most Valuable Player Josh Ybañez reminded the rest of the field that they are more than just big names in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 volleyball tournament.

They have big games, too.

Nitura and Ybañez got the better of their challengers and potential Final Four rivals this week.

As a result, the hard-hitting duo was recognized as the Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Players of the Week, presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, for the period2 to 6 April.

Nitura’s remarkable feat was the accumulation of back-to-back 30-point performances and her fourth in 11 games thus far, surpassing any other player in women’s league history in a single season.

The 20-year-old Nitura’s most recent standout performance was a near triple-double, where she amassed 36 points, 11 digs and nine receptions in a 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 7-25, 15-8 five-set loss to UST.

Subsequently, Nitura orchestrated the Lady Falcons’ biggest win of the season yet by beating reigning MVP Bella Belen and defending champion National University in four sets, 25-23, 15-25, 28-26, 25-22.

This triumph prevented the San Marcelino side from suffering their seventh consecutive loss in their last eight games, one that would have knocked them out from the Final Four race.

‘I am not looking at the records and I don’t think about them. That’s not my goal because the real goal is to win.’

Even as she builds a name for herself as a serial record-breaker, Nitura refuses to bask in the glory of blazing a historic trail in a one-of-a-kind rookie year.

The only outcome that counts for Nitura? Winning and nothing more.

“I am not looking at the records and I don’t think about them. That’s not my goal because the real goal is to win,” said Nitura, who edged the De La Salle tandem of Bea Belen and Mikole Reyes, UST’s Angge Poyos and Cassie Carballo and Far Eastern’s Faida Bakanke for the weekly citation backed by minor sponsors Discovery Suites and World Balance.

“The past games where we lost helped us motivate ourselves. It served as a challenge to us and dared us to prove that we could do better,” she added.

Not even a two-week injury layoff from a Grade 2 ankle sprain earlier this season could slow Ybañez down in the men’s tilt as he continues to flex his MVP form in the midst of a three-game win streak.

The 5-foot-7 Alas Pilipinas high-flyer helped UST clip Adamson and Ateneo’s wings in a pair of straight-sets victories.

Ybañez fired 13 points and nine receptions in a 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 sweep of the Soaring Falcons before taking flight with 24 markers, nine receptions and five digs over MVP frontrunner Kennedy Batas and the Blue Eagles, 26-24, 25-17, 25-22.

Despite his undersized stature, Ybañez continues to demonstrate how her unwavering determination and passion for the game can overcome any physical limitations.

The Growling Tigers winger edged out his teammate and captain Dux Yumbao, La Salle tandem Noel Kampton and Eco Adajar, FEU’s Dryx Saavedra and NU’s Greg Ancheta.