The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Lady Blazers hold off the Colegio San Juan de Letran (CSJL) Lady Knights in the SSL Pre-season Championship, 3-1, on Sept. 23, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
A first set scare was instantly planted by the Lady Knights. What started off as a close match as both teams were answering point by point, the Lady Knights made their first momentum run when they went up 6-9 after an error by the Lady Blazers. But things eventually knotted up at 14-14 when Judiel Nitura committed an error, which eventually paved the way for the Taft squad to grab a 16-15 lead. However, after a couple of timeouts, the Lady Knights stole back the momentum and won the set 20-25 after a Daisy Melendres point.
The redemption by the Lady Blazers in the second set was kicked off with a block by Zamantha Nolasco, which helped them have an early 4-0 start. After some spikes by Gayle Pascual and Nolasco, the ladies in green and white showed no signs of weakness as the score went as big as 12-4, and ultimately a consistent 10-point lead, which was enough power for them to dominate the set, 25-14.
The third set started with a similar story that Letran had in the first set; started as a back-and-forth game that the Lady Knights jogged up with a stable three-point lead. However, the Lady Blazers returned the favor as they fought back, 10-9. A Nolasco point even brought them up to a 14-10 lead. Corrine Apostol, Jade Gentapa, and Pascual finished off the set to win it 25-18.
Set number four would be the most exciting one. On the Letran side, it was the Gia Maquilang show as she dropped 11 points in the set. Meanwhile, the Lady Blazers showed why they are back-to-back champions. In terms of how the set went, Letran yet again started with a firm grasp of a short lead as Melendres spiked it for a 9-13 advantage, forcing coach Jerry Yee to talk it over with Benilde. The timeout proved to be tactical as the Lady Blazers tied it at 14-14 after a Letran attack error. Too bad for Benilde right when they got back, Maquilang dominated and forced coach Yee to burn another timeout when they trailed, 14-18. At this point, the Lady Blazers cannot afford to just commit to the answering game as they let Maquilang dictate the set, leading the Lady Knights to reach their 20th point and threatening the defending champs for a five-set game. The Lady Blazers, however, seemed to be unfazed even when Letran reached 22 points. A combination of multiple Lady Knights’ errors and balanced scoring amongst Michelle Gamit, Pascual and Gentapa assured the win for the Lady Blazers, finishing the set 25-22.
Pascual led the Lady Blazers with 14 points, followed by 13 each from Gentapa and Gamit. Even though she was on the receiving end of the loss, Maquilang did not disappoint as she finished with 25 big points for the Lady Knights, and gave the Lady Blazers a tough time the whole game.
SET SCORES: 20-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-22
DLS-CSB (3): Pascual 14, Gentapa 13, Gamit 13, Nolasco 11, Apostol 6, Basarte 3, Catarig 3, Densig 3, Mondoñedo 2, Estoque 2, Ondangan 1, Borromeo 1, Dorog 0, Getigan 0
CSJL (1): Maquilang 25, Tapang 15, Nitura 8, Ledesma 4, Melendres 4, Almirante 4, Martin 2, Esteller 2, Manlapaz 2, Dela Cruz 0, Relucio 0, Isar 0, Silva 0, Yap 0
