St. Benilde Lady Blazers’ Gayle Pascual. -NCAA PHOTO
Reigning champion De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde opened the NCAA Season 98 women’s volleyball tournament with a dominant 5-0 start with Gayle Pascual doing some of the heavy lifting in their title-retention campaign.
The Lady Blazers kicked off their week by ending Perpetual Help’s three-game win streak with a dominant win last Tuesday, and went on to get the last laugh over the feisty Lyceum in a tight five-set affair on Saturday.
In both games, Gayle Pascual came through for the Lady Blazers with her steady production on both ends of the court. In their 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 win over the Lady Altas, Pascual shone with 22 points off 20 attacks and two blocks.
Meanwhile, in Benilde’s 22-25, 25-16, 16-25, 25-13, 15-9 escape of Lyceum, Pascual’s offensive production of 20 points helped them extend their winning run to 23 games, dating from Season 95.
With her reliable showing for the streaking Lady Blazers, Pascual was named the Collegiate Press Corps NCAA Player of the Week presented by San Miguel Corporation and Philippine Sports Commission with MNL Kingpin, Tinapayan Festival, and Jockey as minor sponsors.
Pascual edged teammate Jade Gentapa, Mapua University’s Roxie dela Cruz, Letran’s Judiel Nitura, and Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Cath Almazan for the weekly award.