KENNEDY Batas became the third Ateneo ace since five-time awardee Marck Espejo and AJ Pareja to win UAAP men’s volleyball MVP.
School pride aside, there’s one more thing Batas takes the most pride in with his breakthrough top individual player plum and best outside spiker win.
Raising the flag loud and proud for LGBTQIA+ athletes like him is what he considers his greatest victory this season.
The Isabela-born third-year winger shared how he’d have talks with his good pal and the league’s MVP of the last two seasons in University of Santo Tomas’ Josh Ybanez.
Their goal? To keep the MVP crown with the ‘queens’ of women’s volleyball.
“It's another season of queen domination,” Batas said.
“Lagi kami nagkikita nila Josh tapos sinasabi namin na walang sinuman ang ibang makakakuha ng MVP kung hindi kami lang. Kami lang na mga queens.”
The ruler of Ateneo's nest
Batas also confirmed his intent to maintain order in the Blue Eagles’ nest, as he’s set to stay for one more year to keep the team as intact as possible and make amends for a five-season Final Four drought.
Set to earn his undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies Track in Filipino Literature and Management with a minor in Marketing, the 23-year-old hopes to make the most of his platform to live his sporting dream and to carry the flag to represent his fellow queer athletes.
“Pinaka-motivation ko is yung UAAP talaga, sobrang dream ko talaga siya. Hindi ko siya nakuha nang basta-basta. ‘Yun yung naging reason kaya gusto ko bumalik. Hindi pa ako tapos sa UAAP. Meron pa akong goal [para] sa sarili ko and sa team,” Batas said.
“[This MVP award] is a statement sa amin na sobrang effective ng sistema namin. Though hindi namin na-reach yung goal namin this season, parang alam namin na meron pang itataas yung laro na meron kami. I think malaki yung tsansa na makakabawi kami next season.”
Completing the rest of the men's volleyball winners' circle are UST's JJ Macam (Rookie of the Year and 2nd best outside spiker), Popoy Colinares (1st best middle blocker) and Dux Yumbao (best setter), Adamson's Leo Coguimbal (2nd best middle blocker), La Salle's Menard Guerrero (best libero) and Batas' teammate in Amil Pacinio (best opposite spiker).
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