COLLEGE of Saint Benilde (CSB) celebrated the return of its head coach Jerry Yee with a 25-21, 25-8, 25-13 dismantling of Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) on Wednesday to remain unscathed in the 97th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) volleyball tournament at the Paco Arena.
The Lady Blazers played a little more inspired with Mr. Yee back in the fold after coaching the national Under 17 team in Thailand in dominating the Lady Pirates and nailing their second win in a row.
And so was Mr. Yee.
“Feels good to get a head start,” said Mr. Yee, who missed his team’s 25-10, 25-13, 25-15 triumph over San Beda in the sport’s season inaugurals on Saturday. “In NCAA, it will be a single-round robin so you get to play teams just once.”
“We just want to win as many games as we can and possibly gain some incentives later or keep team morale high,” he added.
With the exception of the opening set where LPU put up a decent fight, CSB was in total command most game where it relied heavily on the troika of Jade Gentapa, Jhasmin Gayle Pascual and skipper Francis Mycah Go.
Ms. Gentapa paced the team will 11 points while Mses. Pascual and Go contributed 10 hits apiece.
LPU, which downed University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (UPHSD), 25-23, 25-19, 25-16, on Sunday, fell to 1-1.
The Lady Blazers were in a familiar place just like last season two years ago when they went on a blistering 7-0 start only to see their title hopes vanish in thin air after the league decided to pull the plug due to the pandemic.
CSB hopes to finish what it started on this one though. — Joey Villar
