COLLEGE of Saint Benilde secured the No. 2 ranking in the V-League Collegiate Challenge preliminaries following a 25-18, 26-24, 25-16 sweep of University of Perpetual Help System Dalta at the Paco Arena yesterday.

The Lady Blazers rallied from a 10-17 hole in the second set and dominated the Lady Altas in the third to prevail in the showdown of NCAA powerhouses.

With a 5-1 record and 15 match points, Benilde has sealed a best-of-three semifinals series with No. 3 University of the East, which ended the eliminations with a 5-2 card and 14 match points.

Perpetual finished the preliminaries in fourth place with a 4-3 mark and will take on Far Eastern University, which is undefeated in seven matches in the other semifinals.

Jade Gentapa paced the Lady Blazers with 13 points, including two service aces, Zam Nolasco logged a match-best five blocks to also finish with 13 points, while Michelle Gamit chipped in 10 points.

Mary Rhose Dapol had nine points and nine receptions while Shai Omipon also scored nine points, including two blocks and two service aces, for the Lady Altas.

Coach Jerry Yee is very much aware that Perpetual played with a lot motivation against Benilde. The Lady Altas stunned the Lady Blazers in another off-season league last month.

“Good. Ganoon naman iyon. You try to pick a team, and then gawin mong benchmark. Ako I did that before, I pick teams and I try to pattern my offense, my defense para itapat sa kanila even though hindi sila yung kalaban namin. I those before,” said Yee.

“Natalo nila kami sa isang liga, so ayaw din naman naming maulit and good na nangyari iyon and then good meron tayong mga lapses na we see and we need to correct, ganoon lang,” he added.

In the men’s division, University of Santo Tomas rolled past also-ran San Beda, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23, to stretch its winning run to six matches and clinch the top spot.

La Salle later clinched a semifinal berth with a sweep of Perpetual, 25-20, 25-19, 25-19.

Reigning UAAP MVP Josh Ybañez put up an 18-point performance that featured 17 attacks and had nine receptions for the Golden Spikers.

Despite the win, UST coach Odjie Mamon rued this wards’ performance, saying, “The players aren’t in control so they are not really focused. So, they are just playing. It was my fault I allowed them to. It defeats the purpose of adding players to the core.”

Yoyong Mendoza finished with 17 points and eight receptions while JM Ronquillo and Noel Kampton added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Green Spikers.

La Salle moved to third place with a 4-2 record, towing idle FEU (4-3) to the next round.

Jefferson Marapoc led the Altas with 12 points, but Louie Ramirez struggled to only eight points.

With the loss, the fourth in seven matches, Perpetual was eliminated from semis contention together with National University (3-3).

Even if they win their final elimination round match against the Red Spikers on Sunday, the Bulldogs will still miss the next round by virtue of inferior match points as they could only get a maximum of 11 against the Tamaraws’ 12.