By: Rylie San Juan
Photo courtesy of NCAA Philippines | NCAA Media
After a strong outing in game one of the finals, the Letran Lady Knights were handed their second loss of the tournament after failing to secure a set against the Benilde Lady Blazers.
Gia Maquilang and Verenicce Colendra put up 11 points each, while Judiel Nitura was held back to only nine markers.
Game two of the finals saw a Benilde squad that was out for revenge, dominating the first two sets and leaving the Lady Knights in the dirt.
MVP Zam Nolasco once again led the Lady Blazers with her skillful attacks and aggressive spikes, but the Intramuros-based squad did not give in that easily. Maquilang and Vanessa Sarie took turns in trying to rack up points for Letran, while Lara Silva played like her usual self, diving for the ball and performing successful digs to deny Benilde’s attempts at scoring.
It was in the third and final set where things began to pick up for Letran. After being down by a huge margin for most of the set, an 8-3 run by the Lady Knights sparked the whole squad. A thunderous spike from Maquilang tied the match at 22, while Colendra’s attacks gave them set point at 25-24.
Back-to-back errors from Letran was all the Lady Blazers needed to stand on match point, with Nolasco sealing the deal for Benilde and forcing a decider in game three.
Nolasco spearheaded Benilde’s offense, racking up 19 points on 18 attacks. Cam Bartolome tallied 14 points, Clydel Catarig ended the game with 11.
Game three of the finals will be on April 10, Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila.