INQUIRER Sports

THE COLLEGE of St. Benilde Lady Blazers assured themselves of a playoff for the last ticket to the quarterfinal round after they escaped with a hard-earned straight sets win over the University of the Philippines in the 6th Shakey's V-League, yesterday at the Arena in San Juan City.

St. Benilde leaned on the offense of Katty Kwan and Giza Yumang to tow them to the 32-30, 25-19, 25-13 win. Kwan came through with 16 kills while Yumang, back from a stint in the Unigames over the weekend, knocked in 13 attacks and wound up with 15 points as they spearheaded the Lady Blazers one-hour, 20-minute romp with a combined 31 hits that sealed the team?s second win against four defeats.

With UP dropping to 0-6 and out of the quarterfinal race, Lyceum, also winless in five games, tries to sweep its last two games against FEU and UP and hopes St. Benilde lose to UST to force a playoff for the last QF berth.

The Lady Maroons actually put up a tough fight in the first frame, holding the Blazers to a series of extensions but dropped the set. St. Benilde also struggled in the second set, needing 23 minutes to subdue its rival before wearing down the Lady Maroons with a solid game in the third to complete the sweep.