Majoy Baron best blocker

ASEAN Volley Grand Prix

MANILA, Philippines — Majoy Baron provided the icing on the cake for the Philippine women’s volleyball team after clinching the Best Middle Blocker award in the inaugural ASEAN Grand Prix held at the Terminal 21 Mall in Nakhon Ratchisima, Thailand.

The former La Salle stalwart normed 12.33 points on five blocks through three games for the Pinay spikers and emerged as the best net defender among the region’s finest volleyball players.

Baron, the 5-foot-11 blocker from F2 Logistics in the PSL, chalked up six blocks en route to 13 points to help the Philippines clinch the bronze medal with a tight 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-12 win against Vietnam.

A former UAAP MVP for the La Salle Lady Spikers, Baron was named the Second Best Middle Blocker behind Jaja Santiago in the PSL All-Filipino Conference last month.

Baron was joined in the elite ASEAN GP cast by MVP Sittirak Onuma of Thailand, which drubbed Indonesia in four sets to rule the first-ever volleyball Grand Prix in the Southeast Asian region.

Chathu-on Moksri (Thailand) was named Best Spiker, Tri Retno Mutiara (Indonesia) was adjudged Best Receiver while Megawati Hangestri (Indonesia) and Thi Kim Lien Nguyen (Vietnam) bagged the Best Server and Best Libero plums, respectively.

The ASEAN GP shifts to the Philippines for its second leg on Oct. 4-6 to be held in Sta. Rosa Laguna. It will serve as a test event for the volleyball competition in the 30th Southeast Asian Games which the Philippines is hosting from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.