The De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Lady Blazers could not maintain an unbeaten streak as they take the second place in the pool standings after losing to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses, 1-3, on Sept. 25 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The Lady Blazers opened the first set manned by the usual second stringers of Coach Jerry Yee. A quick service ace by Chenae Basarte commenced the scoring, 1-0. A crosscourt hit by Clydel Catarig and a spike by Wielyn Estoque established the first lead of the game, 4-2. But the lefty Golden Tigress spiker Jonna Perdido ignited a run of her own to snatch the lead, 4-6. A soft drop ball by Cristy Ondangan would try to regain the lead, but the Golden Tigresses ignited to an enormous 10-0 run to extend the gap, 5-16. A striking quick attack by Mich Gamit would break the scoring drought of the Lady Blazers, immediately followed by the attacks of Jade Gentapa and Corrine Apostol, 12-19. Despite the efforts done by the Lady Blazers, the Golden Tigresses still managed to initiate a hot streak and managed to finish the set after distributing 19 successful attacks, 13-25.
A good set by the main setter Cloanne Mondoñedo to Gentapa opened things up in the second set to initiate an early lead, 2-1. Gentapa, Gamit, and the powerful spiker, Gayle Pascual, led the Lady Blazers in a consistent run early in the second set as Coach Yee’s first stringers were playing fairly against second stringers of Coach Kungfu Reyes. A quick attack by the towering Zamantha Nolasco from a Mondoñedo set kept the lead, 10-7. But Xy Gula of UST has been an offensive load for the Golden Tigresses, avoiding to extend the gap, 13-8. On the positive note for the Lady Blazers, Nolasco is an unsolved problem for UST as she led the offense to widen the scoring gap, 14-10. Pascual and Gentapa also aided in the scoring load, trying to finish the set, but Regina Jurado of the Golden Tigresses suddenly ignited for a show of her own as she answered all the points being tallied by the Lady Blazers against them until crunch time, 24-22. A service error by UST gave the set point in favor of the Lady Blazers, 25-22.
The first point of the third set was given to the Lady Blazers courtesy of a service error, 1-0. Mondoñedo displayed her setting prowess as she was able to set a powerful spike to Gentapa, a dominant quick from Gamit, and a bullet spike attack from Pascual to create an early lead, 5-2. But, Perdido made things hard for the Lady Blazers as she had back-to-back attacks to tie the game at 6. Unforced errors would immediately slow down the tempo for the Lady Blazers as the deficit grew, 7-12. Nolasco tried to break the faltering momentum with a quick attack, but the Lady Blazers could not catch their groove as they continued to succumb heading into the second technical timeout, 10-16. Unforced errors tore the Lady Blazers down in the set, with miscommunications on the end of the players resulting in a load of receiving errors as the lead grew bigger, 11-24. Catarig tested the waters to try to regain the momentum after executing a successful attack. But, a receiving error ended the set favoring the Golden Tigresses, 12-25.
A quick attack by Nolasco opened the fourth set, followed by a spike by Gentapa, and an ace by Mondoñedo, 3-0. Receiving errors would hit hard as the tigresses stole the lead and quickly established a solid run, 6-10. Pascual boosted the team scoring after landing a bullet attack and a block, but it is Gamit’s quick attack that snatched the lead 11-10. Nolasco displayed a good rally of points after creating her own 3-0 run, mainly consisting of her signature quick runners, 14-13. Despite the offensive consistency of the Taft squad, the game is still packed as a tight close game as both teams are showing great defensive efforts. Pascual suddenly ignited to create three consecutive points, lifting the scoring load of the team, 20-18. But the Golden Tigresses, led by Predido, exploded for a clean run to take the crucial momentum late in the set, 20-22. A last bullet spike by Pascual made the score margin tight, 21-22, before errors disrupted the Lady Blazers as the Tigresses manage to force the game finisher, 22-25.
The Lady Blazers are now placed second in the pool standings and are set to face familiar foes, the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (UPHSD) Lady Altas on Sept. 30 at 5:00 p.m.
The match will be aired live through the Facebook page of Shakey’s Super League and will be televised live on Tap Sports and Solar Sports.
