Kath Santos starred in the endgame as San Sebastian College-Recoletos finally found its breakthrough with a 17-25, 25-13, 26-24, 27-25 victory against Emilio Aguinaldo College in the NCAA Season 99 women's volleyball tournament on Tuesday at FilOil EcoOil Centre.
Santos delivered the finishing kick as the Lady Stags avoided a meltdown in the fourth set to break their six-game losing streak and improve to 1-6.
The Lady Generals, meanwhile, are still left searching for their first win as they slipped to a dismal 0-7 win-loss record.
Tied at one set apiece, the Lady Stags were on the brink of falling to two sets down after staring at a 20-15 deficit in the crucial third frame, but the wards of decorated head coach Roger Gorayeb made a huge turnaround thanks to a 9-4 rampage that saw the game tied at 24-all.
A Jaja Villena attack error gave San Sebastian the set point before Juna May Gonzales completed a combination play in the opposite wing to finish it off, 26-24.
The Lady Generals tried to stage the same comeback act in the fourth, overcoming a 21-13 deficit after unleashing a wild 7-1 barrage capped by an Alessandra Razonable ace that trimmed San Sebastian's lead to just two, 22-20.
Tina Marasigan then came up with back-to-back attacks to bring it to match point at 24-22, but EAC knotted things up anew at 24-all after Cath Almazan broke down the wall established by Gonzales and KJ Dionisio.
That set the stage for Santos to take over.
The former Rookie of the Year unloaded a cross court kill that caught the endline for a 25-24 cushion before her left-handed game-winning attack had San Sebastian cruising to its first-ever victory.
The third-year Santos finished with 17 points anchored on 16 attacks and one block alongside 12 digs while Marasigan churned out 14 markers. Gonzales and skipper Amaka Tan chimed in with 12 and 10 points apiece.
Almazan's 20-point outing she laced with 11 receptions went for naught as EAC remained winless in seven outings. Razonable and Jennifer Omapas chipped in 18 and 10 markers apiece with the former also grabbing 13 digs.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
