After two disappointing losses, the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Lady Altas have finally clinched their first win, dominating the Emilio Aguinaldo College Lady Generals in three sets, 25-15, 25-17, 25-18, Tuesday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Senior Jamela Suyat and middle hitter Lourdes Clemente paced the Altas with 11 points each. The former led the service ace party with five of the Las Piñas ladies’ 17, while the latter had 10 of the 32 attacks.
The Altas pounced on the Lady Generals’ reception woes, especially in the blow-out of a first set. EAC tightened up their floor coverage in the next two, but errors late in those frames sealed their fate.
The biggest chance for the Lady Generals came in the third set as they led at 14-11 after a Iona Yongco ace, forcing Perps coach Sammy Acaylar to call for time.
From there, the last year’s semifinalists took the advantage and the win, with setter Mae Gual in charge.
Head coach Sammy Acaylar shared that the team had focused on service-receives, which, obviously, played a major part in the win. He said, “For our last few trainings, we worked on our service-receive. And nag-work naman.”
The multi-titled mentor hopes that this win will get the Lady Altas momentum heading into the next games.
“Nung di pa kami naglalaban ng EAC, sabi ko sa kanila, ‘Kukuha tayo ng confidence sa kakalabanin natin.’ Pag nanalo tayo, yung confidence, babalik at tataas ulit. Respetuhin lang natin lahat ng kalaban,” he added.
Middle hitter Yvette Tongco led the Generals with nine points in eight attacks and an ace.
The Lady Altas, now 1-2, face the Mapua Lady Cardinals (0-4) on Monday, December 5. Meanwhile, the Lady Generals (0-4) are hard-pressed to get their first win this season against the undefeated San Sebastian Lady Stags (3-0) the following day.
The Scores:
UPHSD (3) – Clemente 11, Suyat 11, Imbo 10, Gual 7, Bravo 6, Verzosa 5, Tripoli 2, Rosal 1, Marcos 0, Medalla L.
EAC (0) – Tongco 9, Magbanua 6, Lumbo 3, Yongco 2, Santos 2, Binondo 2, Rasing 1, Suarez 0, Chan 0, Castillo L.