Lady Blazers dash Eagles semis hopes

St. Benilde, out of it all with five straight losses, stunned fancied Ateneo, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23, late Tuesday to spoil the semifinal bid of the Lady Eagles in the Shakey’s V-League second conference at The Arena in San Juan.

Zharmaine Velez blocked Michelle Laborte’s powerful spike to foil the Lady Eagles’ bid to extend the match and register what was only their first victory after five losses that dropped them out of the race in the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.

“I’m so happy about this win, we have nothing to lose. I told the girls not to mind our standing, just enjoy and have some fun on the floor,” said St. Benilde coach Edwin Leyva.

Giza Yumang unloaded 19 hits while Katty Kwan bucked a wrist injury to fire 12 points for St. Benilde, runner-up in the recent NCAA season.

Ateneo grabbed a 23-22 lead in the fourth set on Laborte’s hit but rookie Jem Ferrer made a service error and pint-sized Ren Agero delivered the go-ahead point for St. Benilde with a smash.

The loss was Ateneo’s fourth straight against a lone win as it dropped to seventh. Ateneo’s only chance is for UST and San Sebastian, both toting 3-1 cards, to lose their remaining games and sweep their last two matches against FEU and UST.