Josh Ybañez is back on his throne after clinching his third Most Valuable Player award in the UAAP Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Tournament.
After missing out on individual honors in Season 87 due to injuries, Ybañez returned to peak form in Season 88, leading the league with 90.192 statistical points (SP) to become the first University of Santo Tomas men’s volleyball player to win three MVP awards.
The 23-year-old senior dominated all over the taraflex, ranking fourth in spiking with a 45.19-percent success rate, second in aces with 0.35 per set, and second in receptions with a remarkable 65.68-percent efficiency.
He also finished as the league’s second-leading scorer with 278 points built on 244 spikes, 16 blocks, and 18 aces.
Ybañez will likewise secure his third Best Outside Spiker plum after finishing with 329 ranking points (RP), while National University’s Michaelo Buddin earned the other nod — his second — with 269 RP. Buddin led the UAAP in aces at 0.48 per set while also placing eighth in spiking with a 41.27-percent success rate.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
NU’s Leo Ordiales will capture his first Best Opposite Spiker award after finishing with 232 RP, backed by strong all-around numbers as he ranked third in spiking (46.12 percent), sixth in blocking (0.67 per set), and seventh in aces (0.21 per set).
De La Salle University’s Issa Ousseini (196 RP) and Far Eastern University’s Lirick Mendoza (191 RP) will be named Best Middle Blockers.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
The Cameroonian Green Spiker finished as the highest-scoring middle blocker with 191 points — eighth-best overall — on 139 attacks, 39 blocks, and 13 aces. He also ranked fifth in blocking with a 0.71 per set average and fourth in aces at 0.24 per set.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Mendoza, meanwhile, emerged as the league’s top blocker with 46 total kill blocks and a 0.87 per set average.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
FEU’s Ariel Cacao edged out Ateneo de Manila University’s Enzo Gutierrez for the Best Setter award, while Tamaraws teammate Vennie Ceballos ran away with the Best Libero plum.
Cacao finished with 200 RP, just 13 ahead of Gutierrez, to claim his first positional award. The Tamaraw playmaker led the league in setting with a 6.3 average per set while also emerging as the only setter inside the top 50 in scoring with 44 points.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Ceballos, meanwhile, topped the reception charts with a 70.67-percent efficiency rate and ranked second in digging with 2.13 per set.
