Josh Ybañez continued his dominance in UAAP men's volleyball after another stellar outing in Season 86.
After another scintillating season, Josh Ybañez has been named the Most Valuable Player for the UAAP Season 86 men’s volleyball tournament, garnering a total of 89.643 statistical points (SP).
Ybañez was 9.05 points clear of his closest competitor in National University’s Nico Almendras with 80.816 SPs. Another Bulldog in Owa Retamar came in third with 73.878 SPs.
The 21-year-old outside hitter from General Santos City thus became the first player from the University of Santo Tomas to win the award in consecutive years.
Ybañez also became only the second player to repeat as MVP after Marck Espejo of Ateneo. The Blue Eagles star won an unprecedented five-straight MVP awards from UAAP Season 76-80.
Like in Season 85, Ybañez excelled once more in multiple categories en route to his second MVP plum.
The Golden Spiker ranked first in scoring with 329 points, fourth in spiking with a success rate of 45.36 percent, second in service with 0.27 aces per set, and first in reception with an efficiency rate of 62.84 percent.
Aside from the MVP award, Ybañez was named the first Best Outside spiker.
National University’s Nico Almendras was hailed as the second Best Outside hitter.
Meanwhile, far Eastern University’s Dryx Saavedra was named the Best Opposite Spiker.
FEU’s Martin Bugaoan was the first Best Middle Blocker, while Nath Del Pilar of De La Salle University took home the second Best Middle Blocker award.
NU’s Owa Retamar ran away with the Best Setter award after ranking 17th in blocking, first in serving, 22nd in digging, and first in setting, totaling 273 ranking points (RPs.)
DLSU’s Menard Guerrero was hailed the Best Libero, beating NU’s Mano Sumagi and Ateneo’s Lance De Castro.
NU's Jade Disquitado, meanwhile, took home the Rookie of the Year award.
Since Season 81, the league has been adopting the FIVB-position-based awards.
The statistical points are computed by adding each player's Rank Points and multiplying the sum by 10. Games won are also included and multiplied by 30. The grand total is then divided by the number of sets played by the player’s team.
Rank Points are determined by the player’s place in each department, with each rank having corresponding Rank Points.
The cutoff had been set after the elimination round.