Lady Chiefs start title defense with drubbing of Lady Cardinals

Arellano University had a strong start to its title defense in the NCAA Season 93 women’s volleyball tournament after dismantling Mapua in straight sets, 25-10, 25-17, 25-13, Thursday at Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Lady Chiefs built a huge 22-8 lead in the third to all but seal their first win after Jovielyn Prado and Glydel Liu exchanged spikes for the defending champions .

Mapua managed to salvage a few more points before their impending loss with Katrina Racelis scoring on a beautiful through the block kill that cut the Lady Cardinals’ deficit to 23-12.

Princess Bello countered Racelis’ attack with an off-the-block kill to put the Lady Chiefs at match point and Arellano then savored Joanelivert Mercado’s miscue for the game’s decider.

Arellano head coach Obet Javier said he wanted his team to get off to a strong start in Season 93 and begin their momentum as early as possible as they defend the title.

“Every time I meet with the players I always tell them that in Season 92 we were the champions, and that’s okay, but this year we have to defend this,” said Javier.

“If we worked hard for Season 92, this Season 93 we have to push through even harder.”

Mapua was at the mercy of Arellano’s constant attacks throughout the game with the Lady Chiefs unloading 46 scoring spikes and eight aces while the Lady Cardinals managed just 15 scoring spikes and four service aces.

Regine Arocha led Arellano with 12 points while Andrea Marzan added nine.

Dianne Latayan had six points for Mapua.