The bid for a fifth straight title remains alive for De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde after it fended off Arellano University, 22-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17, in the NCAA Season 101 women's volleyball quarterfinals on Tuesday at the San Andres Sports Complex.
The Lady Blazers needed to recover from a Set 1 hiccup and crawl back from a huge hole in Set 3 to complete a four-set romp and clinch their Final Four ticket, where they will face whoever wins the QF battle between Perpetual and EAC.
Zam Nolasco and Clydel Catarig formed a one-two punch with the senior middle blocker leading the way with 22 points and the opposite spiker posting 21 markers as they ousted the Lady Chiefs from contention.
"Nu'ng first set parang ando'n pa 'yung pagka-tense ng team kaya hindi nagtuturn into good points. And nu'ng second set naman, nag-usap lang kami na kalmahan para loose 'yung laro namin," Nolasco told GMA News Online.
"Lagi naman kaming naguusap kung ano 'yung dapat ayusin and ayun bumawi na lang kami."
(In the first set, we were feeling tense and it didn't turn into good points. And in the second set, we spoke to each other to calm down and play loose... We always talk about what we need to fix and there, we were able to bounce back.)
After a mixed results in Sets 1 and 2, the Lady Blazers found themselves down by some distance in the third frame after Arellano raced to a 15-9 lead. But the reigning champions slowly regained their true form with Catarig and Shekaina Lleses capping off a 13-7 run to tie things up at 22-all.
Catarig then unleashed two consecutive kills that gave Benilde the set point at 24-22 before she and Cristy Ondangan finished it off with a solid block on Moming Padillon.
Benilde never looked back in Set 4 with Ondangan and rookie Cam Bartolome denying Crisanta Servivad for a 16-9 cushion. A powerful spike from the middle by Nolasco sent the Lady Blazers to a comfortable 22-12 lead before Catarig soared for a cross-court kill on the opposite side to seize the match point, 24-14.
Catarig also shone for the game-winning point after returning a free ball off an overcooked set by the Lady Chiefs, sending Benilde to its seventh straight Final Four appearance.
Servidad paced Arellano with 22 points while Cassey Florida and Fhaye Mangubat chimed in with nine markers each.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
