Lady Blazers, Lady Altas gain V-League semis headstart

MANILA, Philippines -- The College of Saint Benilde Lady Blazers and Perpetual Lady Altas drew first blood in the semifinals of the V-League after sweeping their respective opponents at the Paco Arena in Manila Wednesday.

The Perpetual Lady Altas handed the FEU Lady Tamaraws its first defeat in the V-League, 25-21, 28-26, 26-24.

With the game going down the wire and the score tied 21-all in the third set, Kiesha Bedonia gave FEU the lead with an off-the-block attack after a long rally, 22-21.

Perpetual, however, fought back and got to match point, 24-23, following a Shaila Omipon attack off the blockers.

A service error, however, tied the game anew at 24.

A block by Charisse Enrico on Bedonia gave Perpetual the one point lead, 25-24.

An attack error by FEU ended the game.

Omipon finished the game with 20 points. She was followed by Mary Rhose Dapol with 13.

Bedonia, meanwhile, had 10 points for FEU.

The Lady Tamaraws earlier finished the elimination round flawless.

The Lady Blazers, meanwhile, defeated the UE Lady Warriors, 25-22, 25-13, 25-12, Wednesday morning.

Benilde’s stellar defense was able to limit UE star rookie Casiey Dongallo to just nine points en route to the sweep.

Jade Gentapa led the Lady Blazers with 15 points, followed by Jhasmine Pascual with 13.

Zamantha Nolasco followed suit with 12 points of her own.

KC Cepada and Riza Nogales had six points apiece for UE.

Benilde assistant coach Jay Chua lauded the team’s consistency and blocks in the game, which he said was among the keys for the victory.

“Our blocking [game] really worked for this game, especially since Dongallo is the one we have to check. It really worked,” Chua said in Filipino.