Colegio de San Juan de Letran needed a hero as the Lady Knights were staring at a 0-2 set deficit against a hungry Jose Rizal University on Wednesday.
And that hero turned out to be Juls Castro, who has not seen a lot of action in the tourney due to an injury, but proved to be the crucial piece in this match.
The third-year open hitter delivered in a big way, finishing with 16 points off the bench as Letran pulled off a great comeback with a 14-25, 16-25, 25-20, 25-17, 17-15 triumph.
“I’m lucky na nung binunot namin siya, nag-respond naman siya. Actually, matagal na niyang gustong maglaro,” said Letran coach Mike Inoferio.
“Actually meron siyang nararamdaman sa tuhod and ayaw naman namin siyang pwersahin.”
("I'm lucky that when we called her number, she responded. Actually, she's wanted to play for a while... She has a knee injury and we didn't want to push her.")
With Castro sparking their rally, Letran was able to protect its winning streak, which is now at three games.
“Nung first two sets, kumbaga ‘yung galaw nila, parang pigil. Pigil sila. Walang enjoyment tapos hindi maka-receive and in fairness naman sa JRU, ang ganda ng services nila,” added the tactician.
“Kami naman, no excuses pero pangit talaga ‘yung first two sets namin.”
("In the first two sets, the team seemed like they were holding back. No enjoyment and we couldn't receive well and in fairness to JRU, their services were really good.. For us, we have no excuses but we didn't play well in the first two sets.")
The 22-year-old spiker admitted the nerves that she felt during the game, especially with the knee injury she sustained a month ago.
“Sa totoo lang, kinabahan din talaga ako. Nung first two sets nasa labas kami and gusto rin namin makatulong pero iba ‘yung nakasalang,” she shared.
“So iniisip ko, ‘pag pinasok na ako doon na lang ako a-arriba.”
("In truth, I was nervous. In the first two sets, I wasn't in the game and I wanted to help but others were in the game... So I thought, if I'm put in the game, that's when I will 'arriba'.")
—JMB, GMA Integrated News