St. Benilde tears apart injury-riddled Arellano for third win

College of St. Benilde made quick work of shorthanded Arellano University, dispatching the Lady Chiefs in straight-set fashion, 25-19, 25-15, 25-19, in the 2019 PVL Collegiate Conference, Saturday at the FilOil Flying V Centre.

St. Benilde piled on the Lady Chiefs’ woes, pouncing on a weakened Arellano arsenal, which badly missed the firepower of Regine Arocha, Necole Ebuen, Carla Donato, and Jehan Hussain — all of whom were nursing injuries.

“Siguro kulang sila, ‘yung Arocha ‘di naglaro injured probably or nagre-rest. Tayo prepare lang tayo ng prepare and pagdating ng game laro lang tayo ng laro,” said CSB head coach Jerry Yee as his side rose to 3-1 to inch closer to a semifinals spot.

St Benilde leaned on the scoring exploits of Klarisa Abriam and Gayle Pascual. The former top-scored with 17 points built on 14 attacks while the latter chipped in 12 markers.

Mycah Go was all over the place for CSB. She flirted with a triple-double, tallying seven markers laced with 12 excellent digs and 11 excellent receptions.

From a 13-9 gap in the third set, the Lady Blazers raced to a 23-16 spread. Though Sarah Verutiao and Nicole Sasuman joined hands to help Arellano trim the deficit, St. Benilde relied on its net and floor defense which pressured the Lady Chiefs to commit crucial miscues down the stretch.

The reigning NCAA queens slid to fourth after dropping their second straight match in four outings.

Charm Diño was the sole double-digit scorer for Arellano. She finished with 12 point, all coming from attacks. Nicole Sasuman added markers while Alyana San Gregorio managed seven points.

St. Benilde will seek to solidify their hold of a semis spot when they face off against TIP on Sunday, September 15. Meanwhile, Arellano will try to keep their semis hope alive against UST on Saturday, September 14. Both matches will be played at the same venue.