The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Lady Blazers maintained their unbeaten streak as they advance to the Shakey’s Super League quarterfinals after defeating the Enderun Colleges (EC) Lady Titans, 3-0, on Aug. 1 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City. 

The Lady Blazers opened the ball game with an unusual starting six, consisting of Chenae Basarte, Corrine Apostol, Mich Gamit, Clydel Catarig, Wielyn Estoque, and Fiona Getigan. Catarig had the first points for the green and white squad, but errors came hitting early for the Lady Blazers as they struggled to gain a head start lead, 2-4. Zamantha Nolasco immediately made her presence felt, off from the sidelines, as she successfully converted a Basarte set to a quick attack, immediately followed by a back row attack from Estoque, 9-6. With the presence of Nolasco on the frontlines, the Lady Blazers had a solid frontline defense. 

The efficient rallies of the Lady Blazers were immediately halted as they had three consecutive errors, allowing the opposite team to recover, 12-10. Estoque broke the scoring drought, splicing the blocks of the Lady Titans with consecutive powerful spikes, 14-11. Catarig continued her scoring, making a run of her own with four consecutive scores, mainly coming off the successful sets of Basarte. A powerful quick attack from Gamit speared the ball onto the opposite court to end the set with a massive gap, 25-11.

Gamit immediately opened the second set for the Lady Blazers with a quick attack, followed by three consecutive scores from Jade Gentapa. Things were favorably quick for the Lady Blazers after Gayle Pascual served an ace and Estoque landed a back row attack, 7-3. Head setter Cloanne Mondoñedo marked the stat sheets with an ace to give the Lady Blazers the lead, 12-7. Gentapa continued to ignite in the second set after nailing consecutive attacks off the quick sets of Mondoñedo. A rare set by Pascual converted an easy attack for Gentapa. Cristy Ondangan also contributed with a big block to claim a double-digit lead, 22-12. Mondoñedo led the last rallies of the second set as she made two successful sets to Ondangan and Estoque to end the set, 25-13.

Set three was all about the Lady Blazers as they had another commanding head start entering the set. Estoque initiated things for the team with a spike, followed by consecutive scores from Gamit, 4-2. Nolasco joined the scoring spree as she made another series of consecutive scores, 6-3. Unforced errors by the Lady Titans helped the Lady Blazers’ cause.

Pascual, who has been statistically quiet the whole game, unleashed her scoring prowess with three easy attacks. An attack by Cathrina Dizon triggered the match point, thanks to a successful set by Mondoñedo. Another service error by the Lady Titans handed the match win for the Lady Blazers, 25-10, ending the game in a sweep. 

Estoque was hailed the best player of the game with 11 points in 10 attacks and an ace, followed by Gentapa with 10 points in 7 attacks and 3 aces. 

The Lady Blazers are set to face familiar foes, the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD) Lady Altas on Aug. 4 at 4:00 p.m. for the quarterfinals of the Shakey’s Super League National Invitationals. 

The match will be aired live through the social media pages of Shakey’s Super League and will be televised live on Solar Sports. 

Box Scores:

DLS-CSB (3): Estoque 11, Gentapa 10, Gamit 6, Catarig 5, Basarte 4, Pascual 4, Nolasco 3, Mondoñedo 2, Apostol 2, Ondangan 1, Dizon 1, Dorog 0, Getigan 0, Estenzo 0

EC (0): Deloria 8, Botor 6, Almendralejo 3, Perolino 2, Ma 2, Alvero 1, Orito 1, Rojo 1, Aguilar 0, Ramirez 0, Santos 0, Alba 0, Sadia 0, Dulay 0