St. Benilde Lady Blazers cap off ‘harder’ NCAA bid with second straight title
St. Benilde Lady Spikers win their back-to-back NCAA championships. –NCAA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—College of St. Benilde made quick work of Lyceum, 25-19, 25-11, 25-20, in Game 2 of the NCAA Season 98 women’s volleyball finals to complete a sweep and notch its second straight championship at San Juan Arena on Friday.
Other than snagging the school’s first-ever back-to-back titles, the Lady Blazers also continued their dominance, hiking their overall win streak to 29 straight games.
However, coach Jerry Yee admitted that this season’s championship run was much harder than the previous one.
“Honestly, it’s harder this year because as you can see opponents stick by us [this season], we had several five-setters so we had to make a lot of adjustments with the players and their playing style,” said Yee in Filipino.
“Of course, we’re happy that we got it [championship] in the end. In the end, we really caught it.”
#ANDSTILL THE QUEENS OF THE #NCAASEASON98 VOLLEYBALL COURT
The women’s volleyball championship stays in Taft Avenue as the Lady Blazers celebrate their winning moment. @INQUIRERSports https://t.co/LohpZf1Wiq pic.twitter.com/91gb9IdCDe
— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) April 14, 2023
The Lady Blazers showed their usual dominance in the first set, 25-19, but went on to make the second set look like a lopsided exhibition match.
Yee’s wards started off hot with a 16-8 opening blitz, using firepower offense from Gayle Pascual and Finals MVP Jade Gentapa, but showcased their title-winning floor defense to wrap the game up limitting the Lady Pirates to only three points the rest of the set.
Yee explained that consistency was key when it came to their defense, as they also tallied just 14 team errors in the entirety of the game.
“It was all because of consistency. We also had to know what executions our players need to do. They might be easily distracted and pressured due to the amount of people today so I tried to keep them intact so they can focus and work.”
Jade Gentapa is Finals MVP for NCAA Season 98 women’s volleyball. -ROMMEL FUERTES
Pascual, who was last season’s Finals MVP, spearheaded Benilde in the scoring department with 15 while new FMVP Gentapa finished with 13 markers. Zamantha Nolasco also stepped up for the Lady Blazers with 12 to her name.
Johna Dolorito was the sole double-digit scorer for the Lady Pirates with 11 markers. Venice Puzon orchestrated Lyceum’s offense with 12 excellent sets but to no avail.
