De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde hardly broke a sweat as it made quick work of University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, 25-14, 25-18, 25-7, to move on the verge of another elimination round sweep in the NCAA Season 99 women's volleyball tournament on Wednesday at Filoil EcoOil Centre.
The three-peat seeking Lady Blazers needed just 65 minutes to frustrate the Lady ALTAs to improve to 8-0 and move a win away from booking an outright finals ticket.
Perpetual, on the other hand, absorbed its second loss in a row to drop to 4-4.
Benilde head coach Jerry Yee fielded a different starting lineup in the match, which saw rookie Clydel Catarig and Jade Gentapa start for the defending champions as they took dominant wins in the first two sets.
Graduating middle blocker Mich Gamit then unleashed back-to-back quick plays before team captain Jessa Dorog showed off her wares to bring Benilde to a 15-3 lead. Gentapa, who usually comes off the bench in the past games, served up an ace as they headed to the technical timeout enjoying a 13-point advantage.
There was hardly a resistance from the Lady ALTAs, but Krisha Cordero continued to fight after she killed one from the opposite side, 19-7, despite their usual suspects Mary Rhose Dapol and Shai Omipon not playing in the endgame.
Catarig completed a combination play before she denied Charmaine Ocado for a 21-7 cushion as Dorog sealed the victory with a powerful ace.
Gamit starred with 13 points while Zam Nolasco and Dorog chipped in 11 and 10 markers apiece with the latter also grabbing eight dogs and 8 receptions.
Dapol still top-scored Perpetual with nine points while Cordero, who got a surprise starting role, finished with seven markers.
Benilde looks to book an automatic seat in the championship round when it takes on LPU on Sunday while Perpetual will hope to bolster its Final Four bid when it faces EAC on the same day.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
