Wins proved elusive for Emilio Aguinaldo College in its first 13 games in the NCAA Season 101 women's volleyball tournament, ending the preliminary round without a single victory.
That threw EAC in a survival situation. The Lady Generals confronted two elimination games and on both occasions, they pulled off stunning escapes to keep their season going.
And those moments only revealed the true character of these Lady Generals.
"Malaki pong achievement para sa amin kasi kami winless sa elims tapos ngayon bumabawi po kami at ngayon natalo pa namin sila (Perpetual) in four sets," rookie middle blocker Ashley Toriado told GMA News Online shortly after their upset victory over Perpetual on Sunday.
"Sabi nga po sa amin ni Coach Kirk, gawin lang po namin ‘yung laro namin at ayun, ipinakita po namin kung sino kami."
(It's a big achievement for us because we were winless in the eliminations but we're bouncing back now and we were able to beat them in four sets... Like Coach Kirk said, just play our game and there, we showed who we are.)
EAC closed out its Group B run with a 0-13 card, which sent them to the knockout play-in stage against fourth-ranked LPU last Friday for the battle for a quarterfinal berth.
They sank Lady Pirates’ ship with a breakthrough 25-23, 25-16, 26-24 victory to advance.
But EAC’s road got even steeper when they were pitted against Group A leader and favorite Perpetual in the quarterfinals, where the Las Piñas crew enjoyed a twice-to-beat incentive.
Unbowed, EAC carved out a huge upset when the Lady Generals pulled off a 25-18, 19-25, 27-25, 25-22 win to extend their campaign and set the stage for a do-or-die clash on Wednesday.
Despite being a first-year, Toriado starred in the shocker with 10 huge blocks to finish with 16 points while Angel Joy Perez added 24 points and six receptions to help stun Perpetual, who only lost twice in the group stage.
"Siguro, team work lang po talaga at tatag ng puso. Kumapit kami sa unang panalo namin against LPU. Doon kami kumuha ng lakas ng loob para sa game na 'to po," Toriado added.
(I guess, it's just team work and heart. We just hung tight after our first win against LPU. That's where we drew strength for this game.)
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
