What better way for the Letran Lady Knights to extend their unbeaten streak to 15 games than in an all-important Game 1 victory against no less than rival school San Beda in the semifinals of the NCAA 101 Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
The Season 100 finalists recovered in time after dropping Set 1, returning to and imposing their winning ways in three straight sets including extensions in the second and in the fourth– 20-25, 28-26, 25-21, 28-26– in front of an animated crowd inside the Strike Gymnasium in Bacoor, Cavite on Sunday.
Letran’s scoring leader Judiel Nitura supercharged the team with 25 points, getting key contributions from usual prospects Vanessa Sarie, Natalie Estreller, Lara Mae Silva, and Yen Martin.
Cebuana Joralyn Panangin emerged as a surprise contributor for the Mayeth Carolina-coached squad, drilling in seven crucial points off the bench to get the Best Player of the Game nod.
“Yung team kasi gusto talagang manalo, gustong gusto namin manalo sa larong ito. Nag-step up po ako… ready lang po ako palagi,” Panangin said during the post-game interview.
“Pinaghandaan ko talaga. Sa training pa lang, yung reception talaga, yung first ball po, kasi yun talaga ang nauuna,” she added, also lauding her teammates for “adjusting” to her as she gradually settled in on getting more minutes than usual with the absence of the injury-sidelined Gia Maquilang.
It was a tight chess match from start to finish between two well-coached squads, thoroughly reflected in their statistical head-to-head.
Despite the 3-1 set disparity, Letran and San Beda were tied with 62 attack points apiece, while committing 28 errors each. The former had five more ace points (7-2), while the latter scored two more blocks (6-4).
The Lady Knights have now won all three meetings against the Lady Red Spikers this season. They won in their first round slugfest, 3-1, on February 3; and repeated mastery in the second round, 3-0, on March 8. In both victories, Nitura top-scored for the Intramuros squad with 22 and 18, respectively.
