The young guns took matters into their own hands as Emilio Aguinaldo College averted a collapse against Jose Rizal University, 25-11, 27-25, 17-25, 25-27, 15-11, in the NCAA Season 100 women's volleyball tournament on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
This after rookies Jing Alimen and Erica Bodonal took charge to keep the Lady Generals' Final Four hopes alive with a 4-10 win-loss card as the former dropped a career-high 27 points built on 24 attacks and three aces together with 12 digs. Bodonal, meanwhile, churned out 15 markers and 12 receptions to bail EAC out despite losing the third and fourth sets.
The Lady Bombers, on the other hand, are already out of semifinals contention after dropping to a 1-13 record.
EAC had the chance to finish its off in the fourth set when Bodonal tied things up at 25-all, but Nicole Deala and Gayle Batara conspired for the last two points to drag the Lady Generals to a deciding set.
EAC came out firing in the final frame, racing to a 5-0 start sparked and capped by Bodonal's attack and service ace, giving the Lady Generals an early cushion and setting the tone for the set.
But the Lady Bombers showed there's still a fight in them with Karyla Jasareno serving an ace to cut the deficit to two, 4-6. EAC then responded with a 5-3 blast capped by back-to-back attacks from Bodonal as they secured an 11-7 advantage.
JRU continued to fight as Jasareno went for an off-speed kill that made it a 10-12 deficit, but Deala committed a costly attack error that saw EAC cruising to the match point at 14-10.
Another JRU error, this time from the service line, allowed EAC to take the hard-fought victory that kept the Lady Generals well within the Final Four race.
Jaja Villena and Cara Dayanan also starred for EAC with 12 and 11 points apiece while libero Karyle De Andres impressed with 30 digs and 17 receptions to lead the floor defense.
The loss spoiled a 17-point and 16-dig outing from Deala.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
