Unable to steer AMC-Cotabato to a top Spikers’ Turf finish, Jau Umandal still lifted the Most Valuable Player trophy behind his conference-long exploits in the Open Conference won by Cignal in record fashion at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum
The 25-year-old former University of Sto. Tomas star emerged as the second leading scorer at the end of the semifinals after tallying a total of 236 points on 203 attacks, 22 blocks and 11 aces.
He also finished inside the Top 5 in all scoring categories, placing third in the spiking department (45.82 percent), winding up fourth in blocking (0.47 per set), and posting another fourth-place effort in serving (0.23 per set).
Iloilo’s Jade Disquitado and Wendel Miguel of Cignal shared the Best Outside Hitters honors while HD Spiker Ysay Marasigan nabbed the Best Opposite Spiker award.
Cignal swept Cotabato in the best-of-three finals, completing a perfect season of 15 wins.
Disquitado, the top leading scorer of the Open Conference, finished with a total of 293 points on 270 attacks, 12 blocks and 11 service aces, while Miguel placed 10th in scoring with 122 points built on 109 attacks, nine blocks and four aces.
The 18-year-old rising star placed fifth in the spiking category with a 45.30-percent success rate and the sixth-best server with an average of 0.20 per set.
Meanwhile, the former UP standout shone on both ends after entering the finals as the second most efficient spiker with a success rate of 45.99 percent and the fourth best in digging (1.39 per set) and receiving (51.27-percent).
Marasigan, on the other hand, tallied 110 points off 95 attacks, eight blocks, and seven aces to finish 13th in scoring. He is also ninth in spiking efficiency with 40.43 percent and 10th from the service line with 0.16 per set.
JP Bugaoan of Cignal and Mfena Gwaza of the D’Navigators took the Best Middle Blocker awards while Manuel Sumanguid III (Cignal) and JM Apolinario (Iloilo) were named the Best Libero and the Best Setter of the tournament organized by Sports Vision.
Bugaoan ranked sixth in scoring after putting up 158 points on a league-high 37 blocks, 116 points, and five service aces. He averaged 0.84 blocks per set, another league-high. Gwaza had 128 points, good for eighth, built on 85 attacks, 32 blocks, and 11 aces. He is also second in the blocking department with an average of 0.59 per set.
Apolinario, meanwhile, placed second in the setting department with an average of 4.41 sets per set while Sumanguid dominated the receiving (60.30 percent) and digging (2.34 per set) categories after placing first in both.
