She didn’t put up any gaudy numbers this week but Bea De Leon has nonetheless proven that she’s the queen this week in the UAAP Season 81 Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
De Leon was solid and commanding for Ateneo this week as the ladies in blue and white went undefeated in its two games en route to finishing the first round with a 6-1 record on the back of six straight wins.
The veteran middle blocker averaged 13.5 points this week in what was her best week, scoring-wise, so far in the tournament on her way to being chosen as the Chooks To Go-Collegiate Press Corps UAAP Player of the Week.
Those numbers won’t jump out of the page as being truly magnificent, but Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro doesn’t put a premium on De Leon’s offense but rather on her leadership.
“I never doubted the leadership of Bea ever since, and I’m so lucky that she decided to play for her fifth year,” said Almadro. “Who would even sacrifice this much to wake up early every day, lead the team, and go to bed late at night? That in itself is leadership, that in itself is an example of being a good leader.”
Still, De Leon’s sudden jump in scoring was noticeable when compared to her, simply put, limitations on offense.
De Leon was averaging just six points a game before the Lady Eagles faced Adamson University on Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Center.
Her 14 points in that game helped the Lady Eagles to the four-set win, 25-8, 22-25, 25-16, 25-10.
De Leon then followed that up with another solid performance against National University putting up 13 points in another four-set victory for the Lady Eagles, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17.
De Leon beat Sisi Rondina of University of Santo Tomas, Jennifer Nierva of National University, and Tin Tiamzon of La Salle for the weekly plum awarded by sportswriters from broadsheets, tabloids, and online publications covering the collegiate beat.
