In the end, one team will snap its losing streak and will taste the sweet victory.
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights outworked the Mapua Institute of Technology Lady Cardinals in four sets, 22-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-13, and clinched its first win of the season, Thursday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
Middle hitter Mikaela Lopez stood the tallest for either team after steering Letran with 13 points, 11 coming from attacks.
The volleybelles from Letran led at the start of all the frames with the steady playmaking of Charm Simborio. Lopez registered most of her attacks in the opening frame.
However, Mapua took advantage of the faulty floor defense of the opponents to steal the first set with Jela Peña and Angelica Guardian getting the job done.
In the next three sets, nonetheless, the Lady Knights held on to the lead and never looked back.
Letran peppered the Mapua defense with 42 attacks and seven service aces. The blue-shirts also edged out the latter in blocks, 5-4.
Head coach Mike Inoferio was relieved to finally see his team secure a win.
“At first, medyo masama talaga yung loob namin, especially tong mga to … kasi graduating na sila, lalo yung three, four games na decisive at di naman malayo yung scores namin, medyo mabigat,” he shared.
“Itong mga bata, sila-sila na nagmotivate ng sarili nila.”
Peña and Guardian paced the Cards with 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
Simborio ended the match with 31 excellent sets and even helped on offense with five points.
The Lady Knights (1-6) will look to follow up this win when they face the JRU Lady Bombers (2-5) on Wednesday, January 18. Meanwhile, the Mapua Lady Cardinals (0-7) will hope to snatch a win when they battle EAC Lady Generals (0-7) on Friday, January 13.
The Scores:
CSJL (3) – Lopez 13, Torres 11, Abitan 9, Carreon 8, Barrinuevo 6, Simborio 5, Parin 2, Laserna 0, Perez 0, Bangcola 0, Urizza 0, Larioque (L).
MIT (1) – Peña 12, Guardian 11, Latayan 6, Sedenio 6, Racelis 6, Ramilo 3, Aquino 1, Frando 0, Luzon (L).
