GAYLE Pascual lived up to expectations as she delivered the goods in College of Saint Benilde’s 20-25, 25-22, 25-13, 25-11 victory over San Sebastian College in what could be a stirring title-retention campaign in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament Saturday at the San Andres Sports Complex.

Pascual led the Lady Blazers’ charge with 97th Season MVP Mycah Go sidelined from the entire competition due to an ACL injury she sustained in a tune-up match last month.

Pascual, last year’s Finals MVP, lived up to her billing as she went on fire early on by racking up 21-of-33 attacks on top of three blocks and two service aces.

She went on to finish with a career-high 26 points aside from chalking up nine digs for Benilde which also got a splendid performance from Michelle Gamit who matched Pascual’s number of three blocks.

Gamit finished with 12 points while Cristy Ondangan chipped in 11 points for the Lady Blazers.

Meanwhile, Arellano University joined Benilde for the early lead after pulling off a 25-18, 25-20, 25-23 short work of Jose Rizal University.

Aside from tossing in 20 excellent sets, s

Skipper Cloanne Mondoñedo also had a remarkable showing for the Lady Blazers as the second-best attacker in the team tossed in 20 excellent sets throughout the one-hour, 30-minute match, connecting 8-of-12 spikes.

The Lady Stags actually claimed the opening set behind last season’s top rookie Kat Santos and were very much in contention midway into the second but they eventually lost steam allowing the Blazers to reverse the outcome of the game.

The first-set loss to the Lady Stags was only the second for St. Benilde since last season.

Santos had three service aces for a 17-point outing, KJ Dionisio chipped in 13 points, nine receptions, and eight digs, while Tina Marasigan and Amaka Tan scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for San Sebastian.

Jewelle Bermillo, the graduating Lady Stags libero, collected 14 digs and 11 receptions, while Vea Sison, who is also in her final year, had 17 excellent sets.

The Lady Chiefs, who won three straight crowns before losing to the Lady Blazers in last year’s Finals, unveil a gem in rookie Laika Tudlasan, who dropped 23 points, including three service aces, as they needed only one hour and 23 minutes to defeat the Lady Bombers.

In the first men’s match in three years, Benilde made quick work of San Sebastian, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18, to earn its first victory.

The Blazers produced a balanced attack as skipper Roniey Adviento had nine points, including two blocks, four digs, and four receptions.

Georgi Gauani also scored nine points, while John Carlo Tero, Ryan Daculan, James Paul Laguit, and Leonard Van Jaboli had seven points apiece for Benilde, which drew 17 excellent sets from playmaker Jericho Fajardo.

Kyle Villamor led the Stags with 17 points and 10 receptions.