Nitura, Bituin earn UAAP POW plums

(UPDATE) AS the men's and women's UAAP Season 87 volleyball tournament elimination rounds are set to wind down, the league will first take a short break to give way for Lent.

Before the stoppage, the future showed glimpses in the present as rookies Shaina Nitura of the Adamson Lady Falcons and Amet Bituin of the FEU Tamaraws both led their teams to respective key victories, earning them the Collegiate Press Corps' UAAP Players of the Week honors.

Nitura, already playing beyond her years, has proved every ounce of hype is all worth it, after claiming a new league record for the fourth time this season for back-to-back Player of the Week citations.

The undisputed Rookie of the Year front-runner and tournament's current top scorer reset the record for most points in a season at 314 after dropping a whopping 37 markers built on 31 attacks, five blocks and a service ace against Final Four-seeking FEU Lady Tamaraws.

Nitura breezed past the Season 77 mark set by Ateneo legend Alyssa Valdez with two more games to play and is now also the yardstick for most points in a single game (38) and most 30-point outings at five and counting.

Nitura nosed out University of the Philippines' Kassy Doering and Joan Monares, National University's (NU) Bella Belen and University of Santo Tomas' (UST) Kyla Cordora for the weekly honor.

In the men's side, Bituin helped secure the league-leading Tamaraws a twice-to-beat advantage, prevailing over both the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the Adamson Falcons in the process.

In his first-ever career start, the rookie Bituin scored 17 points and added nine excellent receptions in Far Eastern University's (FEU) four-set triumph over Ateneo.

He also pumped in 14 points in an easy sweep of the also-ran Falcons, as the Tamaraws tightened their grasp of holding top seed in the Final Four.

Bituin garnered more votes than teammate Lirick Mendoza, NU's Leo Aringo and Obed Mukaba, UST's Popoy Colinares and La Salle's Noel Kampton for the award.