Wielyn Estoque and Louie Ramirez steered their respective squads back to the Final Four of the NCAA Season 99 volleyball tournaments and earned for themselves the Collegiate Press Corps NCAA Players of the Week honors.
Estoque lifted De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde to a 25-19, 25-23, 25-8 triumph over Mapua University on Sunday, where she fired season-best scoring of 19 points built on 14 attacks, four aces and a block as the Lady Blazers formally clinched a Final four ticket.
Her season-high output was a big follow-up from her eight-point outing in their 25-16, 25-20, 25-14 win over Arellano last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, University of Perpetual Help System DALTA's team captain Louie Ramirez flexed his MVP form to help the ALTAs likewise enter the semifinals.
The Las Piñas crew swept a few of their closest pursuers in Arellano University (25-19, 25-21, 25-18), San Sebastian College-Recoletos (25-16, 25-22, 25-18), and San Beda (25-14, 25-22, 25-22).
And starring in those games was the 6-foot-2 Ramirez.
He accumulated an impressive 47 points along with 25 receptions in those games – enough to edge out Mapua’s elite scorer Barbie San Andres, who erupted with 38 points against JRU, EAC’s Ervin Osabel, and Benilde’s James Marasigan for the weekly honors.
Both the Lady Blazers and the ALTAs remained perfect through three weeks with identical 7-0 win-loss records. But both teams are also not satisfied with their achievements so far.
"Kailangan pa namin manalo kasi hindi pa po dito natatapos lahat eh. Mas eager kami na mas manalo pa sa mga next games," the third-year Estoque, who outshone Perpetual’s Shai Omipon, Mapua’s Roxie Dela Cruz, and Lyceum’s Johna Dolorito, said.
[We need to keep winning because it doesn't end here. We're more eager to win in the next games.]
Ramirez, on the other hand, stressed: "Masaya kami pero hindi pa namin iniisip na pasok na kami sa Final Four kasi gusto namin i-sweep 'yung elimination. May two games pa kami kaya walang magre-relax."
[We're happy but we're not thinking about being in the Final Four yet because we want to sweep the elimination. We have two more games so no one is going to relax.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
