Layout By Kamille Castillo
Layout By Kamille Castillo.

#NCAA100: Blazers’ title reclaim in jeopardy, Lady Blazers eye four-peat


The Benilde Blazers suffer a 0-3 sweep as they await a semis showdown with Letrán, while the Lady Blazers book their spot in the finals, shutting out the MU Lady Cardinals with a decisive 3-1 victory.


By Kiel Mananquil | Monday, 2 June 2025

The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Blazers yielded in straight sets against the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán (CSJL) Knights, 0-3. Meanwhile, the Lady Blazers outclassed the Mapua University (MU) Lady Cardinals, punching their ticket for a fourth title defense, 3-1, on June 1 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

 

The Blazers opened the match with a service ace from Chris Villanueva, setting the tone for a neck-and-neck contest early in the first set. However, the Knights quickly launched a counterattack with Dave Bautista and Vince Himzon at the reins to eventually pull away, 17-25. 

 

In a similar fashion, the Taft Squad opened the subsequent sets in their favor with Adrian Austero and Raymark Betco launching arrows through the walls of the Intramuros squad. Despite the relentless spikes, the blue and red battalion reinforced their walls with Bautista at the helm to secure the second and third sets, both 23-25 apiece, to force a sudden-death showdown against the top-seeded Blazers. 

 

For the Lady Blazers, the defending champions showed early jitters, committing costly mistakes that Lady Cardinals Freighanne Garcia and Raissa Ricablanca eagerly capitalized on. While Mycah Go ran the show together with Taft’s twin threats, Ashley Lleses and Kai Lleses, Grace Cabadin and Garcia ultimately pulled away with the first set for Mapua, 20-25.

 

Cristy Ondangan and Rhea Mae Densing opened the second set by unleashing aggressive attacks. Go remained efficient at the service line, orchestrating a commanding 7-1 run midway through the set, followed by another 5-0 point surge courtesy of back-to-back service aces from A. Lleses to claim the second set, 25-15. The third set played out similarly as the Blazers continued to control the pace of the game to secure a 2-1 advantage, 25-17. 

 

The fourth set saw even more superior executions from the defending champions as they followed through with a 9-2 run as they kept the Lady Cardinals scrambling. Despite the valiant efforts of Nicole Ong, Garcia, Cabadin, and Ricablanca, Benilde’s Zam Nolasco zipped through them, claiming the match and the finals ticket with a 25-18 victory.

 

Austero kept the Blazers afloat with 11 points on 10 attacks while Nolasco topped the scoreboard for the Lady Blazers with 19 points on 18 attacks and a block.

 

Set Scores:

Blazers: 17-25, 23-25, 23-25

Lady Blazers: 20-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-18