MANILA, Philippines — University of Santo Tomas' Aiza Maizo has emerged as the early frontrunner in the race for the Most Valuable Player award in the 73rd UAAP women's volleyball tournament.

That’s because the lefty Maizo is leading the league in scoring and blocks which underscored her status as one of the versatile players of her generation.

The firepower and stability she provided to the team also enabled UST to share the top spot with former champion La Salle with similar 5-0 records.

A many-time Most Valuable Player in the Shakey's V-League, Maizo tallied 105 points to lead the scoring race apart from having the best percentage in blocks with 1.0. In five games where they used up 19 sets, Maizo has a total of 19 blocks.

Adamson's Angela Benting is second in scoring with 97 points followed by University of the East's Cristel Rosale (89 points), National University's Maricar Nepumuceno (87 points) and Adamson's Pau Soriano (82 points).

La Salle veteran Jacqueline Alarca has the best percentage among spikers and servers with a 41.88 success rate and a 0.94 per set average, respectively.

NU's Jennelyn Reyes is the best digger so far with 5.63 digs per set, Ateneo's Jem Ferrer normed 17.13 per set to emerge as the top setter so far while UST's Maru Banaticla has the best receiving percentage with a 48.15 efficiency rating.

The league resumes on Jan. 8 at The Arena in San Juan.

Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin