MANILA – College of St. Benilde Lady Blazers achieved a four-peat in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament by defeating the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19, in Game 2 of the Season 100 Finals on Wednesday at the Playtime FilOil Center in San Juan.
Clydel Catarig shone with 11 points, consisting of 10 attacks and one block, to be named Player of the Game for the Lady Blazers, who secured the best-of-three title series with a 2-0 victory.
Mycah Go was named Finals MVP after leading the Lady Blazers, who captured their fourth consecutive NCAA women’s volleyball championship since Season 97 in 2022.
According to Lady Blazers middle blocker Zamantha Nolasco, they anticipated that clinching the title would not be an easy task, especially considering the Lady Knights’ determination to push for a Game 3.
“We know that Game 2 is not going to be easy, but we treated it also as a do-or-die game for us, so we really went all out,” Nolasco said. “Our coaches have been telling us during this championship series that we should go all-out for us to achieve our goal of four-peat.”
For the Lady Knights, this marks the second consecutive year they finished as runners-up after also losing to the Lady Blazers in the previous season.
In the men’s division, the Arellano University Chiefs claimed their first-ever men’s volleyball crown following a 24-26, 25-21, 25-15, 25-17 victory in Game 2 against the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights.
Adrian Villados showcased his playmaking abilities with a total of 24 excellent sets, earning him the Player of the Game honors for the Chiefs, who sealed their series with a 2-0 win.
Villados’ impressive ball distribution resulted in a balanced attack from Finals MVP Carl Berdal, Anfernee Curamen, AC Guinto, and Jake Pangilinan, leading to the championship victory.
“We executed well, and it was indeed challenging to win against Letran because their team is very resilient,” stated Chiefs head coach Bryan Vitug./PN
