The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Lady Knights showed end-game composure and outlasted the Emilio Aguinaldo College Lady Generals in five sets, 18-25, 25-22, 25-13, 24-26, 15-7, and finished their season with a win, Monday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Jayme Parin, a surprise stater at the wings, paced the Lady Knights with 17 points, 16 coming from attacks. The outside hitter led the offense of Letran, which finished with 53 spikes.
The Lady Generals took command of the opening set, pouncing on the reception woes of the Intramuros-based ladies. Team captain Lade Magbanua also manned the net well to frustrate Letran’s offense.
Knights’ head coach Mike Inoferio shared that there were many factors contributing to their sluggish start. He said, “After nung last game namin na natalo sa JRU, frustrated kami. Tapos wala pa kaming practice for four days.”
Nonetheless, the Knights showed better transition in order to equalize and eventually dominate the third set to take the 2-1 lead.
Letran threatened to finish the match in the fourth set, but the Generals did well to stop the latter from finishing the match. Errors late in the set from the blue side also made it easier for EAC to force the decider.
Inoferio then told her wards that, “Kalimutan niyo yung nangyari. Magsimula tayo ulit. Laruin lang nila yung best volleyball na alam nila. Just enjoy the game.”
The Lady Knights did just that and responded with an emphatic close-out win in the decider. Letran, aside from its better attacking, also limited their errors to 30, as opposed to EAC’s 47.
Magbanua ended up with 16 markers, five off blocks, to pace the white-clad troops.
The ladies from the Walled City finished at 2-7, giving a fitting send off to graduating players Mikaela Lopez and Chin Laserna. Meanwhile, while their neighbors from outside the walls ended at 1-8.
The Scores
CSJL 3 – Parin 17, Torres 12, Lopez 11, Barrinuevo 10, Mendoza 9, Simborio 3, Carreon 2, Bangcola 0, Laserna 0, Abitan 0, AngelescL, Larioque L.
EAC 2 – Magbanua 16, Santos 13, Tongco 10, Lumbo 8, Yongco 7, Delos Santos 7, Rasing 0, Suarez 0, Binondo 0, Medina Lm
