For the first time ever, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Colegio de San Juan de Letran will meet in NCAA's biggest stage as the two schools collide in the Season 99 women's volleyball finals starting on Sunday.
Game time is set at 2 p.m. at the Filoil EcoOil Centre with the Lady Blazers seeking to complete their third straight championship and protect their massive 38-game winning streak dating back to 2020, while the Lady Knights are looking to end the squad's 25-year title drought.
Benilde stamped its class against Letran during their elimination round meeting with usual suspects Gayle Pascual and Wielyn Estoque showing the way in their 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 victory.
In order to prevent the Taft crew from completing a repeat against his team, Letran head coach Oliver Almadro stressed that having a perfect game is the key to solving the puzzle that is Benilde.
"Flawless game," Almadro said when asked what it would take to defeat the streaking Lady Blazers.
"You need a flawless game with their height, with their might, [and] with their bench. I guess kung ano ‘yung pinakita namin ngayon dito [against LPU], kailangan double pa. Let’s see what will happen but we will give a beautiful game when we meet Benilde."
Benilde is the top team in almost all departments, leading the league in spiking, serving, setting, and receiving with opposite hitter Pascual having the highest success rate of 36.87 percent.
Letran, for its part, is the top digging team and second best receiving squad behind its team captain and third-year libero Lara Mae Silva, who averages 6.05 digs per set and has almost 50 percent efficiency in reception.
But while his team is at a clear advantage given their depth and experience, Benilde head coach Jerry Yee warned his wards to not get complacent, especially coming off a two-week break since sweeping the elimination round for an outright finals ticket.
"Lagi kong sinasabi na ang kalaban namin dito is ‘yung sarili namin so kung wala kaming disiplina at tatamad-tamad kami, talagang matatalo kami ‘pag gano’n," Yee said.
"Hindi naman ‘yun (championship) nakakasawa, talagang pinipilit natin and gigil din tayong makuha ‘yun so ayon naman ‘yung goal."
(I always say our greatest opponent is ourselves so if we do not have discipline and we are lazy, then we will lose... Winning is something one wants and we try it always because that's the goal.)
Benilde also used the lull to have its players recover from injuries with Wielyn Estoque hurting her ankle during the last game against the Lady Pirates. Yee also revealed that Corrine Apostol and Clydel Catarig have been dealing with minor injuries, compounding their woes as former MVP Mycah Go still also not at her 100 percent.
But Yee said these are not excuses for the Lady Blazers, stressing they will go at full throttle in bid to extend their reign.
"Hindi lang si Mycah ‘yung nagwe-wait kami to heal, si Corrine din and then si Clydel. May mga problema din sila. Pero go kami."
(We're not only waiting for Mycah to heal, but also Corrine and Clydel, they have problems, but we're still a go.)
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
