To keep their NCAA season alive, the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Lady Blazers’ Head Coach, Michael Carino, knew that the team needed an extra punch to their offensive repertoire. Luckily for his team, Ranya Musa was ready to step up when her team needed her the most.
CSB was able to outlast the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (UPHSD) Altas in four sets, 16-25 25-19 25-11 25-21, with Musa earning Player of the Game (POG) honors by chipping in 15 points in her teams win.
Musa, who was surprised by her POG award, never expected to given such recognition, especially since all season long, CSB’s offense was powered by the tandem of Jeanette Panaga and Janine Navarro.
“Nagulat ako siyempre. Hindi ko ineexpect na makakapuntos ako ng mas mataas kay Jeanette at Janine. Kaya nagulat ako nung naging POG ako,” shared Musa.
Navarro and Panaga scored 15 and 11 points respectively, but it was Musa’s steady play throughout the match that kept her team ahead.
Down 0-1 sets, Musa kickstarted the Blazers’offense in the second set, giving them the lead that they did not relinquish to keep her team in the game. She made her presence felt once again in the fourth set, helping extinguishing Perpetual’s lead and notching two points off of blocks to help seal the win for the Lady Blazers.
Entering the postseason with a 6-3 record in the elimination round, CSB’s losses came at the hands of the three other teams who reached the Final Four. Benilde used this fact to fuel their desire to win, wanting to take avenge their losses in the elims.
“Inisip namin, this Semi Finals dapat kami bumawi. Lahat ng ibang team sa top four tinalo kami (sa elimination round). Sinabi sa amin ni coach na pagkatiwalaan namin ang isa’t-isa. Isipin namin na kaya namin manalo. Wag kami magtitira, ibigay namin lahat. Kaya inisip namin na kaya namin toh. Nagvovolleyball din sila eh diba? Yung ginagawa namin, ginagawa din nila. Kaya nag focus kami at pinag-aralan namin yung kalaban namin,” added Musa.
With their win over Perpetual, they are a step closer to reaching the Finals, but standing in their way is last year’s champion, Arellano University. Faced with this daunting task, Musa stressed that the team has a lot of preparation to do before their match on Friday.
“Kung ano yung ginawa namin against Perpetual, kailangan angatan pa namin yung ginawa namin. Iba yung laro ng Arellano sa Perpetual. Mas kailangan namin higitan yung performance nila. Kailangan namin mag focus at intindihin yung isa’t-isa. Last game, nahirapan kami kasi sobrang bilis nila. Kailangan namin tapatan yung bilis nila pagmaglaro ulit kami.”
