Vanessa Sarie of Colegio de San Juan de Letran broke the NCAA scoring record as she dropped 37 points in the Lady Knights' victory against Arellano University, 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 17-15, in the NCAA Season 100 women's volleyball tournament on Friday at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Sports and Cultural Center in Manila.
Rookie Sarie exceeded the previous record of 36 points held by San Beda University's Angel Habacon (May 1, 2024) and San Sebastian College-Recoletos' Grethcel Soltones (January 24, 2014).
Letran took the first two sets before Arellano claimed the two next highly-contested sets.
At one point in the fourth set after a crucial call, Letran head coach Oliver Almadro was asked to step out of the playing court after accumulating a yellow and red card. However, since another set was played, he was allowed to return on the sidelines.
In the fifth set, Arellano led 11-4 but the Lady Knights had other plans.
Nicen Colendra scored one for Letran before Fhaye Mangubat's block put Arellano closer. Gia Maquilang then led Letran's run, along with Judiel Nitura, as they inched closer 12-10. Nat Estreller then unleashed a service ace before Marianne Padillon broke the dry spell for Arellano. Alona Caguicla's service error and Royce dela Cruz' attack tied the set before Padilon's attack went outside.
Sam Tiratira then tied the set at 14-all before Sarie again put Letran in front. De Guzman scored another crucial one to put both teams at 15 but Sarie scored her 36th and 37th point to seal the victory for Letran.
"We almost lost it, but we regained the character. It's not about the skills anymore, it's about character," Almadro said after the hard-fought win.
"Emotional ang team because we've been challenging ourselves, we've been finding our character for the past few days so malaking bagay sa amin itong win kasi talo kami sa Arellano nung first round so it's a hard-fought win for us. We thank the Lord for this win and Arellano really did well. Hats off to Arellano also."
Sarie's career-high performance was built on 35 attacks, one block, and one ace, while she also had 23 excellent receptions as Letran improved to 13-2 and boosted its Final Four chances.
"Nandoon lang 'yung faith ko na kapag lumaban ako, lalaban din sila, makukuha namin 'yung panalo," Sarie said as she thanked her teammates.
Aside from Sarie, Judiel Nitura and Gia Maquilang had 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Marianne Padillon had 18 points, while Sam Tiratira and Laika Tudlasan had 16 and 14 points, respectively as Arellano slipped to 9-6.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
