Benilde overcomes Letran in straight sets in campaign opener

College of St. Benilde shrugged off a terrible first set in its opening game in the NCAA Season 93 women’s volleyball tournament and tore Letran in straight sets, 25-22, 25-11, 25-20, Friday at Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Lady Blazers, who won the title back in Season 91, committed 18 errors in the first set that frustrated debuting head Arnold Laniog.

“I showed the stats to the players and it showed that 18 of Letran’s first set points were from our errors,” said Laniog in Filipino. “I told them that we were giving them more points than they are earning.”

“We’re just thankful that Letran wasn’t that aggressive on offense and at the same time our service became a threat.”

Benilde tallied 12 service aces, while Letran had just four, but committed a total of 30 errors the whole match.

The Lady Blazers also found their groove both in offense and defense tallying 36 scoring spikes and nine blocks.

Captain Ranya Musa and Rachel Austero led the Lady Blazers with 14 points apiece while Marites Pablo and Klarisa Abriam comined for 17 points.

Miracle Mendoza had five points to lead Letran.