BACK-TO-BACK title-seeking College of Saint Benilde and Arellano University pulled off contrasting wins over separate foes, forcing a three-way logjam on top of the standings Wednesday in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament at the San Andres Sports Complex.

Jade Gentapa shone brightest when it mattered most as she stacked up 13 essential points on 12-of-23 spikes allowing the Lady Blazers to take the daylights out of Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-17, 25-20, 25-8.

Rookie Laika Tudlasan also rose to the occasion as she nailed in six service aces good for a 15-point outing even as Pau de Guzman delivered five blocks in a remarkable 14-point effort aside from raking in six digs more than enough for the Lady Chiefs to repulse San Beda, 25-11, 25-27, 25-7, 25-12.

With their victories, St. Benilde and Arellano improved to 2-0 to share the view from the top of the standings with the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.

Setter Cloanne Mondoñedo was at her usual best in distributing plays with 15 excellent sets.

The Lady Blazers had eight other rotation players scoring two or more points and gave away only eight points from errors.

On the other hand, the EAC Lady Generals committed 25 errors.

Save for the third set, where the Lady Red Spikers had it so good, the Lady Chiefs were dominant in the one-hour, 33-minute contest.

Chynna Castillo had 11 points, including two service aces, eight receptions, and seven digs for San Beda, which dropped to 0-2 along with Jose Rizal University and EAC.

In the men’s division, Carl Berdal came through with 34 points and 22 receptions as Arellano, with coach Sherwin Meneses back on the bench after missing the opener, squandered a two-set lead before scoring a 25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 23-25, 16-14 decision over San Beda for its second straight win.

The Red Spikers, who were led by Justin Santos’ 18 points, dropped to 1-1 card.