Jose Rizal University staved off a gritty stand from Emilio Aguinaldo College to complete a 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 15-8 victory in the NCAA Season 101 women's volleyball on Tuesday at the San Andres Sports Complex.
The Lady Bombers built an early lead in the deciding frame and never looked back, ending a five-game slump to improve to 1-5 in Group A while the Lady Generals remained winless at 0-6.
Czarina Ramos shone with a team-high 22 points and seven receptions while Nicole Deala and Julia Dimatawaran chipped in 18 and 10 markers apiece. Middle blocker Gayle Batara chimed in with 13 points, highlighted by four blocks, to help JRU barged into the win column.
A Batara quick kill saw JRU surging to a huge 11-4 lead in Set 5, but EAC responded with 4-0 blast capped by a Mae Pasaol hammer from the left wing to cut the deficit to just three, 11-8.
But Dimatawaran stopped the bleeding by swinging from the right side before three straight errors from EAC sealed it for JRU.
Before the breakthrough win, JRU was struggling to get the job done after falling to San Sebastian, Perpetual, Mapua, Benilde, and San Beda.
EAC, meanwhile, extended its losing streak to 10 dating back to last season. Surprisingly, the last team that the Lady Generals defeated was JRU, when then rookies Jing Alimen and Erica Bodonal took charge to pull off a five-set victory last May 7.
Despite huge efforts from the troika of Alex Razonable, Cara Dayanan, and Marinel Ramos, they could not repeat the history. Razonable top-scored with 20 points and eight digs while Dayanan and Ramos chipped in 17 and 12 markers apiece.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
