Andi Garcia
On Tuesday at the San Andres Sports Complex in Malate, the Lyceum of the Philippines University Lady Pirates won a hard-fought match against the Mapua University Lady Cardinals in the 98th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s volleyball tournament. The final score was 25-20, 16-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-5.
Jewel Maligmat was instrumental in leading the Lady Pirates to victory, scoring 5 out of the team’s total of 14 points in the fifth set, including two crucial service aces. “PASABOG ng mahahalagang puntos si Jewel Maligmat upang pangunahan ang 9-1 run sa deciding fifth set upang dalhin ang Lyceum of the Philippines University Lady Pirates sa bwenamanong panalo,” as one commentator put it.
The Lady Pirates dominated the first set with 13 attacks, including six aces and several errors from the Lady Cardinals. However, Mapua fought back in the second set, scoring 11 points from attacks, including four aces and a block, while the Lady Pirates committed nine errors, resulting in a 25-16 win for Mapua.
Although the Lady Pirates made a strong comeback in the third set, they continued to struggle with errors, committing 12 in total, along with nine attacks and four aces from Mapua, who won the set 25-21.
It seemed like Mapua had the first victory in the bag, but Jaja Tulang and team captain/setter Venice Puzon refused to let the Lady Pirates lose. They fought back and managed to clinch the win in the deciding fifth set.
In Wednesday’s games at the San Andres Sports Complex, Arellano and San Beda will face off in the women’s division at 12:00 noon, followed by Saint Benilde and EAC at 2:00 PM.
