INQUIRER Sports

FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY ended its two-game skid by dumping College of St. Benilde, 25-14, 25-19, 24-26, 25-18, Friday to keep second spot in the Shakey?s V-League Season 6 tournament at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

On the brink of another collapse, the Lady Tamaraws found their second wind in the fourth set behind fine plays by Cherry Vivas, Shaira Gonzales and guest player Rachel Daquis.

?We really have to learn to protect our lead,? said FEU coach Nes Pamilar of his wards, who blew a 23-15 advantage in the third frame.

Before St. Benilde could entertain hopes of a comeback, Gonzales and Vivas spearheaded a rampage that gave FEU an 18-8 lead in the fourth.

FEU?s seventh win against three losses put the Lady Tams solidly behind frontrunner University of Santo Tomas (7-1).

The Blazers fell deeper in the cellar with a 3-6 record and could face outright elimination with another setback.

Compounding matters for the Blazers was the victory of the Lady Eagles, who leaned on the 21 points of Fille Cainglet and Bea Pascua?s impressive performance to slip past San Sebastian, 28-26, 14-25, 25-23, 25-16, in the second game.

The win boosted Ateneo into a tie with San Sebastian at 6-4, a win ahead of idle Adamson (5-4).

Vivas, FEU?s top hitter, finished with 21 hits while Daquis and Gonzalez contributed 20 and 17 points as they braced for a much-awaited showdown against San Sebastian tomorrow in the tournament backed by Mikasa, Accel, Mighty Bond and Ora Care.

Shrugging off the absence of guest player Charo Soriano, the Lady Eagles also banked on Denise Acevedo, Angeline Gervacio and Gretchen Ho to yank the rug from under San Sebastian, the five-time NCAA champions.

The Lady Stags, who earned the distinction of becoming the only team to beat the Tigresses, leaned on Margarita Pepito?s 14 hits. Joy Benitez added 13 points and Jinni Mondejar had 11.