The Arellano University Lady Chiefs shook off a third-set meltdown to finish off the Mapua Institute of Technology Lady Cardinals in four sets, 25-17, 25-8, 18-25, 25-18, to notch their third win, Monday morning at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Team captain Rialen Sante carried the fight for the Legarda ladies with 14 points, most of which came in the final set.
After grinding out a close first set win, the Lady Chiefs pummeled Mapua’s horrible reception in the second set to pour in most of their 47 attacks and carved out the dominant win.
Nonetheless, Mapua tightened up their floor coverage in the following set, in effect frustrating the opponents’ offense. In the end, the Lady Cards took one set off Arellano.
For head coach Obet Javier, Arellano failed to show that consistency, instead played relaxed. “Ayan na naman yung sakit ng team na nagrerelax pag dating ng third set pag lumalamang ng dalawa,” he lamented.
The fourth set was a tussle, but eventually, Sante and company picked up the pace to slowly inch towards match point. The chieftain then clinched the win in her own terms as Mapua could not return her hit.
No Lady Cardinal scored in double digits as Jela Peña, Kat Racelis, and Dianne Latayan mustered seven markers each to pace the squad.
Javier hopes to get more consistency from his wards in order to continue the winning streak. He said, “Mag-train pa kami ng maigi. Pero yung importante diyan yung ugali. Yung ugali na gusto mo talagang manalo.”
The Lady Chiefs will take on Letran on Thursday, December 1 at 12:30 pm. On the other hand, the Cardinals will look to bounce back when they face Perpetual on Monday, December 5 at 10:30 am.
The Scores:
AU (3) – Sante 14, Esguerra 12, Prado 9, Marzan 8, Juanich 7, Ramirez 1, Gorre 1, Sanchez 0, Ibisa L, Galang L.
MIT (1) – Peña 7, Latayan 7, Racelis 7, Sedenio 6, Manungdayao 5, Aquino 2, Ramilo 3, Frando 0, Guardian 0, Hermano 0, Luzon L.
