The Emilio Aguinaldo College Lady Generals’ relief was palpable when the final point fell in their straight set win over the hapless Mapua Institute of Technology Lady Cardinals, 25-18, 25-13, 26-24, at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
For much of the NCAA Season 92 Women’s Volleyball Tournament, watching the Lady Generals had been a practice in patience. They had several promising showings but the win kept eluding them in the end.
The wait finally came to an end earlier today, as the Lady Generals found the finishing touch to nail their first win of the season.
For the first two sets, the Lady Generals were in control, subduing the Lady Cardinals in the first set before dominating the second frame. The match then seemed headed for a fourth set as EAC served errors that helped Mapua take a 17-15 lead in the third set. The Lady Cardinals took a 24-22 lead later on, setting up EAC’s final push. But Mapua surrendered three consecutive errors for the match’s last points, giving the Lady Generals the break that they lacked in past matches.
“Sobrang laking bigat ang nawala sa pakiramdam namin,” said EAC head coach Leo Rivera. “Kahit natagalan kami makuha, at least nananalo na kami.”
“Ngayon, sinabi ko lang na huwag sila ma-pressure. ‘Yun ‘yung tumitigil sa amin noon mga huling laban namin.”
Ladeisheen Magbanua led all scorers with 18 points, while Jaylene Lumbo added 13 to fuel the Lady Generals to their first win in eight matches.
Angelica Guardian topped the Lady Cardinals with 10 points while Danielle Ramilo managed nine.
EAC take on the Letran Lady Knights (1-7) for their final match on January 23. The 0-8 Lady Cardinals end their season next Friday against the San Beda Lady Red Spikers (5-3).
The Scores
EAC (3) – Magbanua 18, Lumbo 13, Tongco 7, Santos 5, Delos Santos 3, Chan 2, Yongco 1, Binondo 0, Suarez 0, Castillo (L)
MIT (0) – Guardian 10, Ramilo 9, Sedenio 7, Hermano 3, Latayan 3, Pena 2, Racelis 2, Frando 1, Aquino 0, Luzon (L)
