College of St. Benilde made history as they achieved back-to-back season sweeps, and one of their star players, Gayle Pascual, couldn’t be more grateful for their head coach Jerry Yee.
Pascual shared that Yee did everything he could to support the team, even with the added challenge of handling both Adamson University and the Lady Blazers.
Despite juggling two teams, Coach Yee still made it a point to attend both teams’ training sessions, which Pascual admired. She expressed that the Lady Blazers were blessed to have a coach like Yee and that he was the reason they achieved their goal this season.
“Laging nandun si Coach Jerry [Yee]. Hindi kami sabay ng Adamson ng training. Minsan pumupunta pa siya ng Adamson, tas pupunta pa siya sa amin, so thankful kami kay coach Jerry kasi sobrang sipag niya talaga kahit parang whole day puro volleyball na ‘yung inaatupag niya,” said Pascual on Yee handling two teams at once.
For her part, Pascual was hailed as the best outside spiker of the season, with a total of 129 attacks on a 45.2-percent success rate. However, Pascual emphasized that individual awards were not important to her, and recognition for the team’s collective effort was more significant.
“Ay hindi. Ayoko nga ng individual award kasi mas gusto kong ma-recognize kami as a team not individually,” quipped the former University of Santo Tomas Tigress.
“So ‘yung individual award bonus lang naman ‘yun eh.
“Thank you kasi na-recognize pero para sa akin di talaga siya importante. Trabaho naman namin is ‘yung mag champion — i-defend ‘yung crown,” the native of Sta. Maria, Bulacan continued.
Pascual revealed that the Lady Blazers encountered many hardships and trials that their fans or social media did not see whenever they were offscreen.
The team’s tough journey this season was a joyful one for Pascual, and despite playing without Mycah Go, who was still recovering from her ACL reconstruction, the Lady Blazers overcame a big step forward.
Pascual also revealed that the Lady Blazers would be stronger and better next season, with the addition of a star player rookie and the return of Mycah Go.
“So ‘yung ngayon nga mahirap this season kasi di nga kami kumpleto, nawala si Mycah [Go], tas may isa kaming super rookie na hindi nakapag-laro na super laking help sana,” she bared.
“Next season mas kumpleto na kami, nandiyan na si Mycah [ulit], nandiyan na din ‘yung rookie namin, makakapaglaro na siya,” she continued.
“So ayun de-defend pa rin naman namin ‘yung title eh hanggang sa kaya namin.”
