ZAM Nolasco and the Saint Benilde Lady Blazers are determined to sustain their championship run when they face the Letran Lady Knights in Game 1 of their Season 101 NCAA women’s volleyball tournament best-of-three finals series on Sunday.
Photograph courtesy of NCAA
College of Saint Benilde reigned supreme in the seniors’ division to capture its sixth general championship in Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Blazers, who joined the country’s oldest collegiate league in 1998, tallied a total of 825 points to beat back-to-back champion San Beda University, which settled for a runner-up finish with 740 points.
Mapua University, Season 101 host, was third after racking up 498.5 points.
Benilde lorded over nine sporting events this season, to include table tennis (men and women), lawn tennis (men and women), soft tennis (women), volleyball (men), badminton (men), taekwondo (men) and chess (co-ed).
“Reclaiming the general championship was truly a collective effort by the different teams that competed this season,” Benilde Center for Sports Development (CSD) director Stephen Fernandez emphasized.
“We strive for excellence in multiple sports built around commitment to the institution and a strong support service.”
To laud the feat, the college recently hosted a Thanksgiving Party at the Benilde Sports and Dormitory Complex, where the community honored outstanding student-athletes and coaches who paved the way to achieve the milestone and revisited the highlights of the season.
Adding to the team’s medal haul were seven runner-up finishes in swimming (men and women), beach volleyball (men and women), volleyball (women), taekwondo (women) and football (men).
The men’s track and field team likewise copped bronze.
The Blazers also clinched gold in golf (team competition) and poomsae (co-ed). These demonstration sports, however, did not earn points toward the overall championship race.
For the individual awards, nine NCAA Most Valuable Players hailed from Benilde.
Fernandez said preparations are all set for Season 102 when the school kicks off its title retention bid.
“I’m looking forward to a more challenging season now that we have regained the general championship,” he stated. “As they say, it’s hard to win a championship, but it’s tougher defending it.”
Benilde previously bagged the overall championship crown in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015.
