IN an import-laden tournament, a local player stood out.
Chery Tiggo's Mylene Paat savored the first PVL MVP award of her career after an impressive Reinforced Conference performance that saw her become the only local player among the Top 10 best scorers at the end of the eliminations.
Paat played so well she jumped to third at the conclusion of the round-robin semifinals with 196 points - just behind PVL Best Import Lindsey Vander Weide of Petro Gazz (251 points) and Creamline's reinforcement Yeliz Basa (201 points).
[READ: Petro Gazz sweeps Cignal to rule PVL Reinforced Conference]
The 5-foot-11 national team mainstay's 34.84% efficiency rate was also enough to lock up another accolade under her name - the Best Opposite Spiker award.
On top of her high-efficiency attacks, the former Adamson Lady Falcon also emerged as the eighth best blocker in the league - only one of the three local spikers on the list.
But putting up monster numbers was not even Paat's priority. Instead, it was her desire to bring the 2021 PVL Open Conference champions back to their feet after finishing among the cellar dwellers in the past two conferences.
"Parang pinaka goal ko talaga hindi naman ito at MVP. Gusto ko lang talaga maangat yung team ko," the Crossovers team captain said as she was left in tears after receiving her MVP trophy.
"So yung naging inspirasyon ko is yung team ko mismo. Sila talaga yung gustong gusto ko i-angat and naglalaro ako sa puso, sa isip, sa kaluluwa para sa team ko talaga."

Paat kept her word as Chery Tiggo opened the season-ending conference with five straight wins that enabled the Crossovers to easily secure the first semifinals berth.
Unfortunately, the team failed to secure a win against Creamline, Cignal and eventual champions Petro Gazz.
Despite falling short of a podium finish after bowing to Creamline in the battle for bronze series, Paat remained grateful as she ended her bittersweet season with a game-high 19 points on 15 attacks and five blocks on Tuesday at PhilSports Arena.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph