Friday the 13th was not a harbinger of bad luck for Jaja Santiago as she made three different kinds of history inside the PCV Socio-Civic Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.
Just minutes after leading Chery Tiggo's comeback for the first-ever professional championship, Santiago was hailed Most Valuable Player in the inaugural staging of the unified volleyball tournament, as well as MVP of the three-game Finals that would certainly go down as a classic series.
The bemedalled Santiago scored 26 points built on 22 attacks and four blocks in the winner-take-all game, finishing with an average of 25.3 markers in the championship round.
These recognitions are just the latest in what has been a great year for the 6'5" middle blocker, as she already won a title as an import for Ageo Medics in Japan and in the Philippines. Creamline's Alyssa Valdez was runner-up in the MVP race after netting a league-leading 18.0 points per game through the two-game semifinals.
Meanwhile, Creamline's Jia Morado was named the league's Best Setter after tossing an average of 7.2 per set, while teammate Valdez and Petro Gazz' Myla Pablo, the 10th-leading scorer of the league at 12.4 points, were awarded the Best Outside Spiker honors.
Santiago and Petro Gazz's Ria Meneses were feted as Best Middle Blockers. Santiago led the conference in spikes at 122 with a 49.8% success rate, was third in blocks with 23, and topped with her 18 service aces. Meneses, on the other hand, swatted away the ball a league-leading 50 times for an average of 1.2 per set.
Rounding out the All-Premier team were Choco Mucho's Kat Tolentino, who averaged 14.9 points as the league's second-leading scorer, as Best Opposite Spiker and Petro Gazz's Kath Arado as Best Libero after she successfully converted on 250 digs, and 154 excellent receptions on a 52.6% success rate..