Mikaela Lopez of season host Letran topped Emilio Aguinaldo College's Yvonne Reyes to secure the volleyball Skills Challenge gold medal in the 96th NCAA Season recently at the Victoria Sports Tower in Quezon City.
Tallying the fastest time of 57 seconds in the volleyball relay, Lopez defeated Reyes, who settled for the silver medal with 1:17 after failing to sustain a strong start. The volleyball skills competition featured the league's top former players. It was televised over GTV-11of GMA, the league's newest broadcast partner.
Lopez and Reyes made it to the championship round after beating San Beda's Cherry Quizon and Arellano University's Kimberly Gabito in the Final Four.
With a strong three-point showing in the serving challenge, Quizon topped the elimination round with four points to lead the semifinalist.
Lopez was actually tied with Reyes and Arellano University's Kimberly Gabito in second place with three points in the preliminaries, thanks to her brilliant performance in the spiking challenge.
"Masaya po kasi ngayon lang ako ulit nakahawak ng bola after ng injury ko," said Lopez, who played as the Lady Knights' top middle blocker from 2012-2017. "Thank you NCAA sa chance na magsama-sama kami uli."
Other alums who competed in the skills challenge were Mapua's Kat Racelis, College of Saint Benilde's Matet Pablo, University of Perpetual Help System Dalta's Yanca Tripoli, Jose Rizal University's Angela Bondoc, San Sebastian's Bamcie Belen, and Lyceum of the Philippines University's Czarina Orros.
Meanwhile, the Skills Challenge in basketball is currently ongoing.