Best ever UAAP season ends today

MANILA, Philippines - Adamson University rolls down the curtain today (Wednesday, March 19) on the UAAP’s 76th edition, a historically successful and colorful season that aptly championed the theme “Greatness Never Ends.”

Capped by a dramatic and classic women’s volleyball showdown between eventual champion Ateneo and De La Salle that broke attendance and television viewership records at the Mall of Asia Arena and the Smart Araneta Coliseum in a sport other than basketball, Season 76 will go down in history as perhaps the most significant, if not the most awesome even before the UAAP’s television era.

The ceremony is set at 5 p.m. at the Century Park Hotel’s Grand Ballroom.

“It was indeed a very significant season that saw student-athletes exceeding their limits only to show their love for their respective schools but also for sports,” said UAAP Season 76 President Fr. Maximino Rendon, C.M., of Adamson University.

“We as season hosts are extending our heartfelt gratitude to all the member universities and the men and women and boys and girls—athletes, coaches, supporters, fans and alumni—who again helped make the UAAP the most prestigious league in the country,” Rendon added.

De La Salle will hog the spotlight as the general champion of the seniors’ division, its second-straight and third overall since joining the league in 1986.

Sharing centerstage as juniors overall champion is University of the East (UE), which retained the division title with 139 points, beating perennial winner University of Santo Tomas (121) and Ateneo (108) on account of the Junior Warriors’ conquests in seven events—athletics, table tennis, taekwondo, boys’ volleyball and girls’s swimming and a sweep in fencing.

Rounding out the juniors standings are De La Salle Zobel (102), Far Eastern University-FERN (67), National University (66), Adamson University (31) and University of the Philippines (40).

Also highlighting the ceremony, according to Season 76 Secretary-Treasurer, is the awarding of the Athlete of the Year trophy, as well as the recognition of UAAP athletes who sparked in the local and international arena.

The ceremony will be capped by the turnover ceremony from Rendon to Season 77 President Carmelita Mateo of UE.