MANILA, Philippines – Kat Tolentino's consistent firepower for the Ateneo Lady Eagles catapulted them to their tenth-straight Final Four appearance in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament.
Despite Ateneo delivering a balanced scoring effort in its most recent games, the Lady Eagles continued to rely on Tolentino's scoring which merited her second UAAP Player of the Week title.
The 24-year-old spiker powered the Lady Eagles with 11 points off 9 attacks and 2 blocks in a straight-set win over Season 80 runner-up Far Eastern University (FEU).
Last Sunday, April 7, Tolentino tallied 13 points to lead the Lady Eagles past the gritty National University Lady Bulldogs that allowed Ateneo to become the first team to nail a Final Four spot.
There's no reason for Ateneo to be complacent despite securing a semifinal berth, so the Filipino-Canadian will make sure that Ateneo will finish strong in its remaining games of the season.
"We have to challenge ourselves, it doesn't matter who we're playing and I think we just always have to win convincingly and we'll learn from this," promised Tolentino.
Tolentino is also one of the MVP candidates of the season as she emerged as the league's third-best blocker behind teammate Maddie Madayag while running in 4th in the best spiker category.
Ateneo's leading scorer also edged out her own teammate Deanna Wong and FEU's Heather Guino-o for the weekly plum handed out by print and online scribes covering the beat. – Rappler.com
