Collegiate Press Corps set to honor the best of the best

Awardees for the Collegiate Press Corps

Monday night is set to be a special evening, as the Collegiate Press Corps honors the outstanding student-athletes and coaches of the past season in its Annual Awards Night, presented by San Miguel Corporation at its venue partner, the Discovery Suites Manila in Ortigas, Pasig City.

A total of 23 awards will be handed out by the organization, which is composed of the writers from the various media outlets covering the collegiate beat.

Leading the way among the awardees is Kevin Quiambao, who is set to be named as the Collegiate Men's Basketball Player of the Year.

Named as the Most Valuable Player for the 86th season of the UAAP, Kevin helped La Salle reclaim the men's basketball title after seven seasons by defeating the University of the Philippines in a thrilling best-of-three finals series, in which he became the Finals MVP in the process.

Joining him in the Men's Mythical Five selection are NCAA Season 99 Rookie-MVP Clint Escamis of Mapua, Malick Diouf of UP, Enoch Valdez of Lyceum, and Jacob Cortez of San Beda.

Named as the Coaches of the Year in each league are Topex Robinson for La Salle and Yuri Escueta for San Beda.

This year's edition of the Awards Night, which is also backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and has Jockey as a minor sponsor, is a continued reflection of the evolution of the award-giving body, as it is also set to honor the best of the best in the women's basketball scene.

Set to be named as the inaugural Collegiate Women's Basketball Player of the Year is Kent Pastrana, as the University of Santo Tomas standout helped end their seventeen-year title drought with a stunning upset of National University, denying the Lady Bulldogs of an eighth straight title.

Recently named UAAP Player of the Year for team events, Kent is joined in the first-ever Women's Mythical Five by her teammate and Finals MVP Tantoy Ferrer, Josee Kaputu of Far Eastern University, Favour Onoh of the University of the Philippines, and Kacey dela Rosa of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Growling Tigresses mentor Haydee Ong is set to be named as the inaugural Women's Basketball Coach of the Year.

Joining him is Kent Pastrana of the University of Santo Tomas as the inaugural recipient of the Collegiate Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in the ceremony also backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

For volleyball, the CPC has named Bella Belen and Cloanne Mondonedo as the Women's Player of the Year for the UAAP and NCAA, respectively.

Belen led National University to their second women's title in three seasons, while being named as the league's MVP in each of those campaigns, while Mondonedo helped ensure College of Saint Benilde's stranglehold in the NCAA by capping off her collegiate career with a sweep in Season 99 and third straight championship.

The CPC will also mark this year with the inaugural edition of the Men's Volleyball Player of the Year, with Owa Retamar and Louie Ramirez being the winners of each league.

Both helped their respective schools successfully defend their league championships, the former for National University, and the latter for the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.

Also set to be honored for the first time are the championship-winning head coaches: NU mentors Norman Miguel and Dante Alinsunurin for the UAAP and Jerry Yee for CSB and Sammy Acaylar for Perpetual in the NCAA.