Tots Carlos

Diana Mae "Tots" Carlos (born July 7, 1998) is a Filipino volleyball player who currently plays for the Creamline Cool Smashers. She was playing with UP Lady Fighting Maroons of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, and a member of both the indoor and beach volleyball collegiate varsity teams of the university. She bagged the back-to-back Most Valuable Player and Best Opposite Spiker in the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference and 2022 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference. She is also part of the Philippines women's national volleyball team that competed in the 2022 Asian Women's Volleyball Cup.

Tots Carlos
Personal information
Full name	Diana Mae M. Carlos
Nickname	Tots, Caloy
Nationality	Filipino
Born	(1998-07-07) July 7, 1998 (age 26)
Hometown	Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines
Height	167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb)
College / University	University of the Philippines-Diliman
Volleyball information
Position	Opposite hitter
Current club	Creamline Cool Smashers
Number	18
Career
Years Teams 2015–2020 UP Lady Fighting Maroons 2017 Perlas Spikers 2018 Foton Tornadoes 2019–2020 Motolite Power Builders 2021-present Creamline Cool Smashers
National team
2022–present Philippines

Personal life

Carlos originates from Lubao, Pampanga.^[1] She identifies as a member of the LGBT community^[2] and was formerly in a relationship with then-FEU Lady Tamaraws and Creamline player Celine Domingo.^[3]

Career

Carlo began her collegiate volleyball career in the UAAP Season 78. Aside from UP she was also being recruited by other UAAP teams of DLSU, Adamson and FEU.^[4] She won the Palarong Pambansa Best Blocker award before entering college at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, she is currently playing for the UP Fighting Lady Maroons. She helped her collegiate team enter the Final Four in the UAAP Season 78,^[5] and helped the team win two bronze medal finishes in the Shakey's V-League.^[6][7] Carlos is known for her versatility, she was a Middle blocker in High School before she was converted to an Opposite Hitter, and later on to an Outside hitter for the Lady Maroons.^[8] Carlos won the Inquirer 7 - Week 2 Top 7 and Week 3 Top 1 Player from the UAAP.^[9][10]

At the age of 18, she was recruited to play for the Perlas Spikers in the Premier Volleyball League 1st Season Reinforced Open Conference.^[11] For two consecutive years, she was picked to join the Premier Volleyball League All-Star. In 2016, she helped Team Palaban defeat Team Puso. In 2017, she top-scored Team Roger to defeat Team Rico where she bagged the 2017 PVL Best Player of the All-Stars award.^[12][13] She is also a member of the UP Fighting Maroons Women's Beach Volleyball Team, where she and Ayel Estrañero won bronze for the Lady Maroons.^[14]

In 2018, Carlos was awarded as the 1st Best Outside Spiker and the Most Valuable Player in the 2018 PSL Collegiate Grand Slam Conference after her return from shin injury.^[15]

In 2019, Carlos led the Motolite team in its inaugural semis run for the 2019 PVL Open Conference as the league's 2nd highest scorer. She was eventually elected as the Best Opposite of the tournament.^[16] In 2021, she joined the Creamline Cool Smashers for the first season of the Premier Volleyball League on its professional status.^[17]

Clubs

• Perlas Lady Spikers (2017)
• Foton Tornadoes (2018)
• Motolite Power Builders (2019–2020)
• Creamline Cool Smashers (2021-present)

Awards

Individuals

• 2015 Palarong Pambansa "Best blocker"
• 2018 PSL Collegiate Grand Slam Conference "1st Best Outside Spiker"
• 2018 PSL Collegiate Grand Slam Conference "Most valuable player"
• 2019 PVL Open Conference "Best opposite spiker"
• 2022 PVL Open Conference "Best opposite spiker"
• 2022 PVL Open Conference "Conference Most Valuable Player"
• 2022 PVL Invitational Conference "Best opposite spiker"
• 2022 PVL Invitational Conference "Conference Most Valuable Player"
• 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference "Conference Most Valuable Player"
• 2023 PVL All-Filipino Conference "1st Best Outside Spiker"
• 2023 PVL Invitational Conference "Best Opposite Spiker"
• 2023 PVL Second All-Filipino Conference "Finals Most Valuable Player"

Collegiate

• 2015 Shakey's V-League 12th Season Reinforced Open Conference – Bronze medal, with UP Fighting Lady Maroons
• 2016 Shakey's V-League 13th Season Collegiate Conference – Bronze medal, with UP Fighting Lady Maroons
• 2016 Founders' Cup Philippines – Champion, with UP Fighting Lady Maroons
• 2017 Founders' Cup Philippines – Champion, with UP Fighting Lady Maroons
• 2017 UAAP Season 80 Beach Volleyball – Bronze medal, with UP Fighting Lady Maroons
• 2018 PSL Collegiate Grand Slam Conference – Champion, with UP Fighting Lady Maroons

Club

• 2018 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix – Bronze medal, with Foton Tornadoes
• 2021 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference – Runner-up with Creamline Cool Smashers^[18]
• 2022 Premier Volleyball League Open Conference – Champion, with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2022 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference – Champion, with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference – Bronze medal, with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2023 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference – Champion, with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2023 Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference – Runner-up with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2023 Premier Volleyball League Second All-Filipino Conference – Champion, with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2024 Premier Volleyball League All-Filipino Conference – Champions, with Creamline Cool Smashers
• 2024 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference – Champions, with Creamline Cool Smashers

References

1. Velasco, Jillian (March 31, 2023). "More than MVP award, Tots Carlos surprised to become Best Outside Spiker". Spin.ph. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
2. Gatchalian, Ched Rick (June 28, 2024). "5 content creators share their life stories in TikTok's Pride Monologues". ABS-CBN. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
3. "The most controversial breakups in Philippine sports". Spin.ph. March 19, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
4. Lozada, Bong (February 11, 2017). "UP blanks UE, stays unbeaten in UAAP Volleyball". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
5. Dionisio, Mac (July 1, 2015). "UP rookie Diana Carlos eyes winning tradition for Lady Maroons". UP Alumni. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
6. Lozada, Mei-Lin (December 6, 2015). "Vastly improved UP Lady Maroons beat Navy, clinch third place in V-League". Spin PH. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
7. Payo, Jasmine (August 29, 2016). "Lady Maroons seek share of Shakey's V-League lead, semis slot//". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
8. "Rookie Diana Carlos shows never-say-die spirit for UP". Fox Asia. July 19, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
9. Lozada, Bong (February 21, 2017). "Inquirer 7 top UAAP women's volleyball players: Week 3". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
10. Lozada, Bong (February 13, 2017). "Inquirer 7 top UAAP women's volleyball players: Week 2". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
11. "Tots Carlos Debuts for Perlas Spikers in PVL". Utak Puso. May 17, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
12. Satumbaga, Kristel (October 31, 2017). "Reds down Whites in PVL All-star". Tempo. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
13. "Carlos, Urdas shine as Red beats White in PVL All-Star". Philippine Star. October 30, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
14. Escarlote, Mark (October 6, 2017). "Tigresses, Lady Tams remain unbeaten". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
15. "Tots Carlos earns MVP plum in PSL Collegiate Grand Slam". Fox Sports.
16. "PVL: Cool Smashers complete 20-game sweep, extend Open Conference reign". ABS-CBN. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
17. "Tots Carlos joins Creamline". Philippine Daily Inquirer. February 12, 2021.
18. Yumol, David Tristan (August 13, 2021). "Jaja Santiago takes home Conference MVP and Finals MVP awards". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.