The Benilde Lady Blazers inched closer to a twice-to-beat edge in Group A on Friday with a commanding sweep of the Perpetual Help Lady Altas. Afterwards, Camila Bartolome bared to Rebanse the personal goals fueling her this Season 101 in NCAA women’s volleyball.
The first of these goals is to win the title and be part of what would be a five-peat—a run of dominance only a few collegiate programs can lay claim to. On a more personal level, Camila Bartolome wants to earn the Rookie of the Year award.
“Ako gusto ko mag five-peat talaga, saka siguro sana if ibigay ni God, ‘yung Rookie of the Year. Looking forward to it,” Bartolome told Rebanse.
Bartolome is a high school recruit from the Bacolod Tay Tung Thunderbolts volleyball team all the way from Negros Occidental.
Camila Bartolome Bringing the Positive Energy to Benilde
The 18-year-old outside hitter is bringing positive energy and superb production to Benilde’s bid for a five-peat. And she knows exactly what the Lady Blazers need to do to bring home the title to Taft once more: be positive, have fun, and trust oneself and each other.
“Siguro good mindset lang sa game, tsaka [being] positive, tsaka enjoy kase mas magaan maglaro kapag enjoy eh,” Bartolome pointed out. “At tsaka kaya naman. Individually kaya naman namin, at saka as a team, kaya naman talaga namin. So, mas more tiwala pa sa sarili.”
Perhaps fittingly, Bartolome earned her first-ever Best Player of the Match citation against the Lady Altas after she finished with 13 points on 10 attacks, 1 block, and 2 aces to help push the Lady Blazers to their seventh win in ten matches.
With arguably her finest performance of Season 101, Camila Bartolome may have given Benilde another reliable scoring option after usual contributors Zam Nolasco and Chenae Basarte.
