Lady Blazers hit ground running

MANILA, Philippines — Practically brandishing a whole new team and minus its head coach doing national team duties, College of St. Benilde remained deadly and hungry two years after its pandemic-halted title campaign.

The Lady Blazers vented their ire on the San Beda Red Spikers, 25-10, 25-13, 25-15, yesterday to set in motion their campaign in the 97th NCAA volleyball tournament at the Paco Arena.

“We came into the season fully prepared, we waited for this moment for two years,” said CSB assistant Jay Chua, who is coaching in lieu of mentor Jerry Yee who is in Thailand with the national Under-17 squad.

It also launched CSB’s hopes of completing unfinished business after it went 7-0 in Season 95 only to be denied a chance of winning a title after the league stopped the tournament due to COVID-19.

Jhasmine Gayle Pascual and skipper Francis Mycah Go spearheaded the carnage by firing 10 points apiece while Michele Gamit and Cristy Ondangan chipped in nine and seven hits, respectively.

Despite the win, Chua stressed the need for more consistency.

“We need to be consistent not just distributing the ball but also in our serves because we committed a lot of service errors,” said the winning coach.

Earlier, Arellano U defeated Mapua U, 25-12, 25-14, 25-21, to likewise jumpstart their campaign.