After figuring in back-to-back five-setters, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde made sure to sweep their foe this time around, pulling off a 25-19, 25-18, 25-22 win over Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the NCAA Season 98 women’s volleyball tournament on Friday.
The defending champions now moved on the cusp of a semifinals seat after improving to 7-0 while Letran saw its three-game winning streak come to an end as they dropped to 4-2.
After a dominant showing in the first two sets, the Lady Blazers had to buck a slow start in the crucial third set.
Letran rookie Judiel Nitura came out on fire from the service line, unleashing five straight aces to put the Lady Knights up by five, 11-6.
But Benilde showed some poise down the stretch, exploding for a 5-0 rampage of their own to take the lead at 19-17 behind the duo of Gayle Pascual and Jade Gentapa.
A Cha Cuñada ace then sent Letran to a much-needed 21-20 cushion before Cloanne Mondoñedo shut the door against Leah Tapang for the match point. Gentapa then took advantage of an overpass from Letran to put the game to bed.
Pascual again led the way for the offense of Benilde as she finished with 17 points while Gentapa chipped in 15 to keep their win streak alive.
Michelle Gamit and Mondoñedo chimed in with eight and seven markers, respectively.
Benilde is coming off five-set matches of Mapua and Lyceum.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
