College of St. Benilde warded off fellow NCAA bet San Beda University, 25-14, 23-25, 25-13, 25-20, and barged into the semifinals of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Challenge Cup on Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The Lady Blazers, two-time reigning champions of the NCAA, yielded their first-set defeat in the tournament, but were quick to bounce back by carving out gritty wins in the last two frames of the knockout quarterfinals.
St. Benilde bagged the four-setter triumph in almost two hours of play to book its Final Four ticket against the winner between fellow NCAA stalwarts Letran, the leader of Pool C, and Pool B second-placer Jose Rizal U.
The Lady Knights and the Lady Bombers are still playing as of press time as the 16-team women’s division reaches the explosive knockout rounds.
Prior to the gutsy quarterfinal victory against the Lady Red Spikers, St. Benilde made short work of their three assignments in the elimination round to top Pool A.
The Lady Blazers, under the watch of seasoned mentor Jerry Yee, smothered Parañaque City, 25-6, 5-20, 25-17, UP Volleyball Club, 25-20, 25-18, 25-10, and the Volida Volleyball Club, 25-12, 25-12, 25-18.
Other match-ups in the quarterfinals feature top-seed Philippine Air Force of Pool B against the No. 2 Arellano of Pool C and Pool D pacer University of the Philippines versus second-running UP Volleyball Club from Pool A.
Winners will forge their own semis duel for a ticket in the finale of the tourney supported by the Philippine Sports Commission headed by chairman Richard Bachmann, PLDT, Rebisco, Akari, Foton and CBPI.
Meanwhile in the 20-team men’s division, unbeaten teams Cignal of Pool A, National U of Pool B, PGJC Navy of Pool C and University of Santo Tomas from Pool D headline the quarterfinal cast against lower-ranked teams.
Cignal takes on Iloilo of Pool D, NU goes up against JRU of Pool C, PGJC Navy tangles with VNS Asereht of Pool B and UST clashes against Savouge Aesthetics of Pool A.
Like the women’s tilt, it’s a knockout format in the men’s play with only the four teams advancing in the Final Four until the finals to crown the Challenge Cup champion of the PNVF headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.