SHE didn’t put up any gaudy numbers this week but Bea De Leon nonetheless stood out in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament.
De Leon was solid and commanding for Ateneo as the ladies in blue and white went undefeated in its two games en route to finishing the first round with a league-best 6-1 record on the back of six straight wins.
The veteran middle blocker averaged 13.5 points in what was her best week, scoring-wise, so far in the tournament on her way to being chosen 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 puts more premium on De Leon’s leadership rather than her scoring.
“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.”
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 honor awarded by sportswriters from broadsheets, tabloids, and online publications covering the collegiate beat.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
