Colegio de San Juan de Letran stretched its unbeaten streak to four after pulling off a 25-16, 25-19, 25-19 rout of Jose Rizal University on Friday ahead of its clash with defending champion De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in the NCAA Season 99 women's volleyball tournament.
Sophomore opposite hitter Judiel Nitura was at the center of it all as she churned out a team-high 16 points on top of four digs to help the Lady Knights improve to 4-0 and tie the Lady Blazers before their Sunday match-up.
Despite the sweep, Letran was dealt with a comeback attempt from the Lady Bombers, who even forced a 6-all deadlock before the Muralla crew unloaded a 10-4 rampage to build a 10-point cushion.
Karyla Jasareno's ace and a Gia Maquilang's attack error trimmed JRU's deficit to three, 16-19, but Lea Tapang provided the spark off the bench with some of their starters riding the bench.
It was Maquilang who put the nail in the coffin, completing back-to-back attacks to deliver the match point while a Tapang kill from the opposite side sealed it.
Maquilang finished with 15 points anchored on 14 attacks and one ace while Yen Martin chipped in nine markers.
Jasareno paced the Lady Bombers with eight points while Patricia Del Pilar chimed in with six markers, but those proved not enough as JRU slipped to a 1-3 hole.
Letran head coach Oliver Almadro, though, said their current record should not cause complacency to the players, especially that they will test their mettle once again two days from now against no less than the three-peat seeking Benilde.
"I'm really happy na nandito kami ngayon, but the job is not yet done. NCAA is still far from over, I guess naka-buwelo lang kami nang kaunti,"Almadro said.
"We need to keep working hard and seek pa kung ano pa 'yung mai-improve nila and they have to have a big heart every day."
(I'm really happy we're here, but the job is not yet done. NCAA is still far from over, I guess we just had a good start. We need to keep working hard and seep whatever they need to improve and they have to have a big heart every day.)
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
