By: Kim Yoshi Espiritu
The Letran Lady Knights secures silver as the Lady Blazers bags another back-to-back championship. Photo courtesy of Yvonne Altaire Solon of The LANCE.
Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights were unable to extend the series of the NCAA Season 99 Women’s Volleyball Finals after being swept by the College of St. Benilde, 18-25, 17-25, 18-25, earlier today at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Letran’s outside hitter, Judiel Nitura, connected on all areas of the floor to win steady points for her squad, churning 12 markers.
The Lady Knights made a forceful six-to-nothing rally to open the frame but it was quickly overturned as the opposing Gayle Pascual and Jade Gentapa combined for an efficient closeout on a 13-3 run.
Getting hints of Coach O’s galvanized tactics to defend the frontline, Lady Blazers’ Jerry Yee activated his towering middles — hacking the defense through out-of-tempo plays.
The ladies in green capitalized on this flaw as veterans Wielyn Estoque and Gentapa erupted for a chain of spikes to claim the second set 59 minutes into the match, 17-25.
In the outside zone, freshman Gia Maquilang utilized her beach volley touch towards the cross-court to match their counterparts’ offensive pace.
Even with their backs against the wall, the spikers from Intramuros showed heart as they equalized the margin in the third set, 15-15.
After valiant efforts to stop the barrage, the Lady Knights succumbed to Benilde’s big hitters in the final act as the NCAA Women’s Volleyball crown continued to stay in Taft off the back of a historic three-peat.
CSB’s Pascual took home the Finals MVP honors as she delivered on the offensive and defensive ends with 15 points and seven digs in the contest, followed by Estoque, who also contributed 11 of her own, while steering the attacks was the Season 99 MVP, Cloanne Mondonedo, who had 16 excellent sets.
Despite falling short in this series, Coach Oliver remarked on his players' hardwork and mindset in this campaign. He envisions rewriting the story of Letran’s Volleyball Program — reverting back to its winning ways.
“Sobrang blessed kami, very unexpected, hindi kami seeded coming in this season… Nakaka-inspire kasi 25 years ago nandito rin ako with my teammates”, the decorated coach stated, expressing his service for his alma mater.
The volleyball community can expect more exciting bouts in the future from the budding rivalry between these two teams, especially both being under the support of Strong Group Athletics.