College of St. Benilde and Adamson scooped up big wins against separate counterparts to stay in contention for the top seeding in Pool F of the Shakey’s Super League Collegiate Pre-Season Championship Season 2 playoffs on Saturday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The Lady Blazers, two-time champions of the NCAA, handed the Far Eastern U Lady Tamaraws their first defeat with a thrilling 25-19, 21-25, 25-15, 24-26, 19-17, while the Lady Falcons fended off the University of the East Lady Warriors, 25-14, 19-25, 25-23, 25-16.
St. Benilde and Adamson climbed to 4-1, forcing a three-way tie with FEU for the No. 1 spot entering the final playdate on Sunday to determine Pool E’s top-ranked squad in the quarterfinals.
Gayle Pascual sizzled with 24 points on 22 hits and two blocks while Zamantha Nolasco hammered 16 points spiced by five blocks as the Lady Blazers, slowly but surely, caught up with the SSL’s superpowers.
Jade Gentapa and Michelle Gamit added 14 and nine points, respectively, in a redemption tour for St. Benilde after a rare quarterfinal exit in the national invitational tournament of SSL backed by Mikasa, Eurotel, Victory Liner, Summit Bottle Water, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, R and B Milk Tea, Potato Corner, Rebel Sports, Converge ICT Solutions, Genius Sports and United Auctioneers, Inc.
“Nagtiwala po si coach samin na gustuhin namin itong panalo. Hindi lang siya. ‘Yung aggressiveness namin, dapat laging nandoon. Dapat laging gustuhin namin,” said Pascual, the former NCAA Finals MVP.
Earlier, Antonette Adolfo led the way as Adamson thwarted UE to stay in the race for Pool F supremacy despite a tough loss against FEU last week.
“’Yung pagkatalo po namin sa FEU, naging lesson po talaga samin yun. Marami po kaming pagkukulang tapos naging complacent din po kami. Marami pa rin po kaming pagkukulang,” said Adolfo.
Adamson and CSB will duke it out in the crucial duel on Sunday as FEU takes on UE. Ateneo (2-3) and the University of Santo Tomas (4-1) also clash in a key Pool E battle.
Only reigning champion NU, which swept Pool E with a 6-0 card, and Arellano (3-3) had completed their schedule so far ahead of the quarterfinals.
The higher-ranked teams after the playoffs, where the top eight teams carried over their preliminary round records, will sport twice-to-beat incentives in quarterfinals of the SSL in in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education and the Philippine Sports Commission.
All SSL Season 2 games are accessible across all platforms live and on-demand through the social media pages of Plus Network and SSL with Solar Sports, Blast TV and Aliw Channel 23 as TV partners.
