St. Benilde sweeps UPVC

College of St. Benilde clobbered the University of the Philippines Volleyball Club, 25-20, 25-18, 25-10, for its second straight win in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Challenge Cup on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

The Lady Blazers, two-time reigning champions of the NCAA, bagged the win in only 86 minutes of play against and zoomed to a 2-0 record in Pool A of the 16-team women’s division.

St. Benilde has yet to yield a single set after also sweeping Parañaque City, 25-6, 25-25-20, 25-17, in a superb start in the PNVF Challenge Cup supported by the Philippine Sports Commission headed by chairman Richard Bachmann, PLDT, Rebisco, Akari, Foton and CBPI.

The Lady Blazers have one last assignment against the Volida Volleyball Club next week to complete a Pool A sweep and advance in the Challenge Cup quarterfinals of the PNVF headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.

Earlier, UP Diliman eclipsed La Salle-Dasma, 25-16, 25-27, 25-8, 25-16, for a 2-0 slate in Pool D after also wiping out Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas, 25-14, 25-11, 25-17, on Wednesday night.

Arellano likewise ran away with a straight-sets victory against the University of Batangas, 25-18, 25-17, 25-19, for a winning start in Pool C.

In the men’s play, the University of Batangas made up for the loss of its women’s team by cruising past the Volida Volleyball Club, 25-14, 25-12, 25-11, in Pool A while Emilio Aguinaldo College debuted with a 25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 25-15 win over Sta. Rosa City in Pool D.

The 36-team PNVF Challenge Cup, formerly known as the Champions League, will take a week-long break before plunging back on Nov. 24 to 23 for 10 straight days of action to determine the quarterfinalists.

The playoffs then come off the wraps on Nov. 25-26 in a series of knockout duels until the championship for the first crown of the retooled Challenge Cup featuring 20 teams in the men’s and 16 squads in the women’s division.