Lady Blazers roll to 30th straight win, sweep Lady Generals

Games Friday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
7:30 a.m. – Mapua vs SSC-R (men’s)
10 a.m. – Mapua vs SSC-R (women’s)
2 p.m. – LPU vs San Beda (women’s)
5 p.m. – LPU vs San Beda (men’s)

MANILA, Philippines – For 29 straight NCAA games spanning four years, College of St. Benilde was nothing short of immaculate.

Make it 30 in a row.

Brandishing the same deadly and unforgiving roster that netted them two straight title sweeps, the Lady Blazers walloped the Emilio Aguinaldo Lady Generals, 25-15, 25-14, 25-23, on Wednesday that set in motion their three-peat feat goal in NCAA Season 99 women’s volleyball at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

It also extended CSB’s run of excellence as it has now won 30 consecutive outings — seven four years ago when the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a pair of 11-game championship sweeps the last two seasons.

But Mycah Go, the team’s former skipper and Most Valuable Player who was back after missing more than a year due to multiple knee injuries, said they’re not conscious with the numbers and just more concerned on achieving one goal — win another crown. 

“Hindi namin iniisip na wala kami talo o champion kami. Lagi namin sinasabi back to zero kami,” said the 23-year-old Go, who played minimal minutes as she tried to fully recover before going all out.

“Gusto lang namin makuha ang championship,” she added.

But the Lady Blazers lost concentration and faltered in the third set when they trailed the Lady Generals by two, 21-19.

Good thing CSB recovered its wits and recalibrated its attacking and defensive schemes in time to seize six of the last eight points to complete the triumph.

“Lagi namin sinasabi kalaban namin sarili. Yun nangyari, nag relax at feeling namin okay na maski hindi pa tapos ang game,” said Go.

In men’s action earlier, EAC edged CSB, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 15-12, to launch its campaign in duplicating, if not eclipsing its Final Four finish last year.

Jan Ruther Abor came off the bench and fired a 26 points he spiked with 25 kills; while Marvin Williams Romero and captain Kenneth Batiancila contributed 16 and 11 hits, respectively.