College of Saint Benilde worked on its defense to stymie Far Eastern U's attacks then flourished in transition plays to take a step closer to securing the V-League Women's Collegiate Challenge crown with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-16 victory in the opener of their best-of-three series at the Paco Arena in Manila on Wednesday.

The Lady Blazers kept the Lady Tamaraws' hitters in check with their solid net and floor defense with no one able to churn out double-digit outputs for the Morayta-based squad. Faida Bakanke finished with just eight points that proved to be the leading score for FEU.