Shaina Nitura is rewriting the record books in her debut season, and even Ateneo de Manila University legend Alyssa Valdez can’t help but admire her brilliance.
The Adamson University super rookie recently shattered Valdez’s long-standing UAAP women’s volleyball scoring record last Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Nitura eclipsed Valdez’s 35-point record with a stunning 38-point performance built on 35 attacks and three aces against the UP Fighting Maroons to close the first round of the UAAP Season 87 Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Before Nitura’s historic feat, Valdez had set the scoring record of 35 points in a preliminary match against Adamson in Season 75 on January 20, 2013.
Over six years later, UST Golden Tigress Sisi Rondina matched Valdez’s record with a 35-point explosion against Ateneo in Season 81 on March 20, 2019.
At just 20 years old, with an entire second round of Season 87 ahead and four more years of UAAP eligibility, Valdez believes Nitura’s brilliance will continue to break records.
Only seven games into her collegiate career, Nitura has already set two UAAP milestones.
She first broke the rookie scoring record with 33 points in Adamson’s reverse sweep of Ateneo on February 16, surpassing the previous 31-point mark set by Golden Tigress Angge Poyos in Season 86.
“Grabe. Congratulations. It is just so nice to see this young girl really flying and performing so well in the UAAP. I hope she actually enjoys the support more after beating all the records she’s gonna beat. Una pa lang ‘yon, for sure marami pa,” Valdez told reporters after Creamline’s 25-10, 27-25, 25-21 sweep of Chery Tiggo in Game 1 of the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
“I hope she enjoys the sport even after, and mas eager and hungry pa siya to learn more about volleyball,” she added.
Despite her record-breaking performance, Nitura’s historic achievement ended in heartbreak as Adamson fell to UP in a five-set thriller, 15-25, 25-15, 26-24, 22-25, 10-15, dropping the Lady Falcons to a 2-5 record at the end of the first round.
Such scoring explosions have often ended in disappointment, as four of the last five UAAP scoring records have come in losing efforts.
Valdez herself experienced this firsthand, setting the previous record in a 25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 16-25, 10-15 reverse sweep loss to the Pau Soriano and Sheila Pineda-led Lady Falcons.
Rondina (35 points in a 19-25, 22-25, 25-27, 22-25, 11-15 loss to Ateneo) and National University’s Alyssa Solomon (34 points in a 25-19, 25-23, 15-25, 17-25, 10-15 defeat to La Salle in Game 2 of the Season 85 Finals on May 16, 2023) faced similar outcomes.
While the sting of defeat may linger, Valdez hopes Nitura’s early struggles will fuel her hunger and resilience in the second round of the tournament.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“I guess and I think most ng lahat ng records na ‘yon was from a loss diba? In my experience, it taught me a lot na sometimes as an athlete, you definitely want to end it with a win, but the sport teaches us in a hard way,” Valdez shared.
“I hope mas bumangon siya and mas maging resilient pa siya after this loss and mas talagang pagbutihan pa and mas maging collective pa sila as a team to help each other most especially kasi ang ganda na ng potential ng Adamson Lady Falcons.”
As of publishing, Adamson sits at 2-5, tied with Ateneo for sixth place in the eight-team standings. Second-round action resumes on Saturday, March 22, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
