Alyssa Valdez and Sisi Rondina have expressed their immense admiration for Shaina Nitura’s historic rookie season in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.
Before Nitura shattered it, Valdez and Rondina shared the UAAP women’s division all-time scoring record with 35 points each.
The sensational Adamson University rookie erupted for a record-breaking 38 points — 35 attacks and three aces — last Sunday. However, her heroic efforts were not enough to secure a win as the Lady Falcons fell to the University of the Philippines, 15-25, 25-15, 26-24, 22-25, 10-15.
Coincidentally, both Valdez and Rondina also set their respective 35-point marks in losing efforts.
Valdez’s Ateneo de Manila University bowed to Adamson, 25-21, 25-22, 19-25, 16-25, 10-15, on January 20, 2013. Meanwhile, Rondina’s University of Santo Tomas suffered a 25-19, 25-22, 25-27, 22-25, 11-15 loss to Ateneo on March 20, 2019.
“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 sport more after beating all the records she’s gonna beat. Una pa lang ‘yon, for sure marami pa,” said Valdez.
“Sobrang galing nung bata, and I can say na grabe yung work ethic niya, makikita mo talaga every game. Naka-38 points agad siya. Sobrang idol,” Rondina added.
For the 20-year-old outside spiker, receiving praise from two of Philippine volleyball’s biggest names was heartwarming.
However, Nitura emphasized that setting records was never her priority — winning is.
“Siyempre grateful po kasi yung mga veterans, like superstars ng Philippine volleyball, na-acknowledge po yung ginagawa ko. Very grateful po ako. Pero babagsak pa rin po tayo sa we want to win. We want to achieve wins instead of records po,” said the Cainta, Rizal native.
“Since then naman po, nung nagsimula itong UAAP, our goal was — my goal was — to win. Not anything else. Not achieving individual records or anything. But I’m still grateful na nakukuha ko po yun at binibigay po ni Lord. It’s a bonus, but balik pa rin po tayo sa goal na we want to win. We want to win games. Not just sets, not just records — pero win para makatulong kami sa pag-angat sa Final Four,” she continued.
“No pressure naman po. Hindi ko naman po iniisip masyado yung (records) kasi the more you think about it, mas mapi-pressure po yung bata or kung sino man yung nag-iisip. Kung ibibigay po ni Lord, then ibibigay Niya. If not, it’s fine because ang goal naman po ng team is to win.”
Nitura and the Lady Falcons bounced back on Saturday, returning to the win column with a dominant 25-20, 25-11, 25-21 victory over the UE Lady Warriors.
Now at 3-5, Adamson is eyeing a late push to break into the Final Four, with fourth-running Far Eastern University holding a 4-3 record.
“It’s a stepping stone para mas umangat pa yung laro namin. It’s not the best game we have or hindi pa yun yung pinaka-best namin this season. In the past round, we’re still looking for that version of us na kami talaga yung naglalaro,” said Nitura.
“Kinukuha pa namin yung rhythm namin, yung sabay-sabay kaming lahat nasa taas.”
#WATCH: “I’M HOPING NA MAY MANGYARI PANG MAS MAGANDA!”
Shaina Nitura isn’t settling—after her historic 38-point explosion, she’s hungry for more and better moments as Adamson fights on in #UAAPSeason87
@justinvalencia_ /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/DvoMIZfi6g
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) March 22, 2025
