It seems that College of Saint Benilde is even having a hard time finding some good luck in the Shakey’s V-League.
The Lady Blazers ended their dismal campaign in the seventh season of the league’s Second Conference after losing to fellow NCAA member Perpetual Help, 23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-22, on August 8 at The Arena in San Juan.
Despite solid efforts from key players Giza Yumang, Cindy Optana and Rossan Fajardo, CSB couldn’t stop the determined Lady Altas by dropping the last three sets after grabbing the opening frame of this one-hour and 40-minute encounter.
With that, the ladies in green-and-black ended with a disappointing 0-7 slate, the school’s worst performance since joining the league two years ago.
Yumang led the squad of coach Thelma Barina-Rojas with 19 points while Optana and Fajardo added 16 and 14 points, respectively.
During the tournament, St Benilde dropped two five-set matches to National University and Ateneo, respectively, while losing three three-set games to powerhouse team San Sebastian, Adamson and Lyceum.
Even the presence of former V-League Finals Most Valuable Player Sang Laguilles, who led Adamson to its only title in the 2008 First Conference, failed to change the fortunes of the Lady Blazers.
Against the second-running Ateneo Lady Eagles, CSB gained a 2-1 set lead before dropping a 19-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 17-15 contest last Thursday that lasted more than two hours.
Yumang finished the tournament with 112 points for third place behind Lyceum guest player Mary Jean Balse and Thai import Jeng Bualee of San Sebastian.
The win propelled Perpetual into a tie with NU for sixth spot with similar 2-5 slates. They will meet in a playoff for the sixth-and-final quarterfinals berth.
The Lady Blazers will focus their attention on the 86th NCAA women’s volleyball tournament that will be start during the second semester.
