Six standouts from the UAAP and NCAA will be recognized in the Collegiate Press Corps’ (CPC) Annual Awards Night presented by San Miguel Corporation on June 17 at the Discovery Suites Manila in Ortigas, Pasig.
For the first time ever, the CPC will bestow its highest individual honor to the aces of women’s basketball and men’s volleyball as scribes covering collegiate leagues fete the continuous ascent of both sports in the ceremony also backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.
As the central figures of two remarkable title runs, La Salle’s Kevin Quiambao will be hailed as the UAAP Men’s Basketball Player of the Year following a hat-trick of golden honors as Season 86 MVP, Finals MVP and first-time champion to end the Green Archers’ seven-year championship drought.
University of Santo Tomas’ Kent Pastrana will earn distinction as the inaugural UAAP Women’s Basketball Player of the Year (POTY) Award after helping the España-based cage team clinch its first crown in nearly two decades and ending National University’s dynastic seven-year reign.
Highlighting volleyball’s steady rise is this year’s title-winning quartet of hard-hitters and playmakers in both collegiate leagues.
Outside spikers Bella Belen of National University and Perpetual’s Louie Ramirez will be hailed as the UAAP Women’s Volleyball POTY and the CPC’s first-ever NCAA Men’s Volleyball POTY, respectively.
Belen’s ever-reliable offense and newfound defensive prowess made her only the UAAP’s fifth multiple-time women’s volleyball MVP as Ramirez’s two-year run of on-court dominance earned him his second straight NCAA MVP nod.
Champion setters will also have their share of the limelight in the second straight year of the united CPC, which merged the UAAP and NCAA Press Corps upon the return of all collegiate sports in 2022, with support from Discovery Suites as official venue partner and Jockey as minor sponsor.
National University’s Joshua Retamar is to be honored the UAAP Men’s Volleyball POTY to join Ramirez in the historic men’s volleyball awardees and College of St. Benilde’s Cloanne Mondoñedo as the NCAA Women’s Volleyball POTY.
In his final act for the Bulldogs, Retamar orchestrated NU’s four-peat title run to perfection on top of winning back-to-back Finals MVP plums and Best Setter honors before embarking on national team duties for Alas Pilipinas just weeks after a fairytale finish to his collegiate career.
Mondoñedo, meanwhile, blazed her own trail of history in women’s volleyball as the first NCAA setter in recorded history to win MVP en route to Benilde’s third unbeaten championship campaign with 40 straight wins.
