Lady Altas Lady Blazers enter semis

MANILA, Philippines — College of Saint Benilde and University of Perpetual Help System DALTA survived four-setters, punching separate wins to claim the last two berths in the semifinal round of the V-League Women’s Collegiate Challenge at the Paco Arena in Manila yesterday.

The Lady Blazers fended off the UE Lady Warriors, 23-25, 25-22, 29-27, 25-18, while the Lady Altas warded off the Mapua U Lady Cards, 16-25, 25-18, 25-18, 39-37.

The Lady Altas toiled for two hours before finally thwarting the hard-fighting Lady Cardinals, who saved a number of match points before Shaila Omipon stepped up to wrap up the length match with skipper Razel Aldea providing support from the service line.

“Masaya na maganda ‘yung performance nila sa last three sets. Nung first set, hindi ko alam ang nangyari. Maganda ‘yung adjustment in-game sinunod naman nila, pati adjustments mismo sa sarili nila,” said Perpetual coach Sandy Rieta.

Omipon finished with 25 points, including three of her 21 kills in the clutch that kept the Lady Altas in front in the exacting 44-minute fourth set duel. The outside hitter also added two blocks and two aces while Charmaine Ocado came through with 13 markers and Aldea added 10 points.

Roxie dela Cruz paced the Lady Cardinals with 16 markers, but it was not enough to save the team from elimination with a 1-4 slate with one playdate left in the elims.

Perpetual thus joined FEU, UE and Saint Benilde in the next phase.

Earlier, Saint Benilde battled back from a set down and endured a tense-filled third set skirmish as it stopped erstwhile unbeaten University of the East.

Gayle Pascual unloaded a 23-point game, including clutch hits in the third, while Jade Gentapa backed her up with 20 points as the Lady Blazers rebounded from a tough four-set loss to the streaking FEU Lady Tams.