Games on Tuesday (The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m. — St. Benilde vs SSC
4 p.m. — Ateneo vs Adamson
6 p.m. — UST vs FEU

University of Santo Tomas reasserted its might over St. Benilde and ran away with a 25-13, 25-16, 26-24 win to cement its bid for the top spot in the Final Four while booting out the Lady Blazers from the semis race in the Shakey’s V-League Season 6 at The Arena in San Juan last Sunday.

Aiza Maizo delivered 18 hits while Angeli Tabaquero and Maruja Banaticla added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Tigresses, who moved two games ahead of second running FEU Lady Tams in their battle for the top spot in the semifinal round.

Giza Yumang matched Maizo’s output, including 17 attacks, and guest player Rosann Fajardo and Zharmaine Velez added 11 and eight points, respectively.

But the rest of the Lady Blazers struggled against the Tigresses’ solid games in the first two sets.

Saint Benilde tried to extend the match in the third to no avail, blowing a 20-16 lead as the España-based squad, winner of the first conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza, wrapped the straight-set win in 1:05 to raise its record to 9-1.

The Lady Blazers bowed out with a 3-7 card.

“We still need to win more games to boost our morale in the semis. We can’t afford to relax because the matches are getting tougher,” said UST coach Cesael delos Santos.

Maiza turned in another impressive performance after scoring a season-high 27 hits in leading UST to a 3-1 win over Adamson last Friday to gain the first semis berth in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Accel, Mikasa, Mighty Bond, and OraCare.

Ahead at 20-16, the Lady Blazers fell into a maze of errors while Tabaquero scored on a kill to cap a 4-0 binge to tie the game.

Saint Benilde still led at 24-23 on a Yumang backrow hit but Tabaquero took over again then the Tigresses clinched the win on a Fajardo mishit and a Hannah Mance block off Fajardo.