Lady Cards fall prey to Lady Red Spikers, 1-3

Middle Blocker Princess Babiera built up the momentum of the Lady Cards at the start of the first set with successful attacks and a service ace. However, the home team struggled to take over the Lady Red Spikers as they could not brush off their errors and breach through the walls of the opponents just in time to steal the set. The first frame ended in favor of the red and white jerseys, 20-25.

Aiming to catch up with the opponent team, Middle Blocker Alyanna Nicole Ong’s attacks and Open Spiker Therese Manalo’s service ace gave way for the red and gold squad to lead the following set. They sustained their tempo with boosted efforts from Babiera, Manalo, and Open Spiker Chenie Batac. Minimizing their errors and improving their offensive play in the second set, the Mapúa volleyers poured in a nine-point advantage over the Mendiola-based team, 25-14.

With hopes to bounce back, the Muralla-based team pushed for a heightened defense against the opponent. With a set point for the hungry Lady Red Spikers on the brink, Open Spiker Sunshine Dalida alongside Ong’s service aces kept the set going with a 3-0 run. However, the Lady Red Spiker Trisha Paras sealed the third set with a spike, leaving the Lady Cards with a two-point deficit, 23-25.

Leaning into a late-game rally, the red-and-gold squad kept their spirits up. With back-to-back attacks from Opposite Spiker Raina Vergino, the team was able to close the gap to just one, 23-24. Despite a fierce fight between the two teams, San Beda’s Paras once again delivered a game-winning spike, devouring the Lady Cards’ chance to extend the game, 23-25.

Results of the match left the Mapúa Lady Cardinals with a 3-3 win-loss record alongside the JRU Lady Bombers and LPU Lady Pirates. Meanwhile, the San Beda Lady Red Spikers bumped to a 2-4 win-loss stint.

Lady Cardinal Ong led with 15 points while Babiera and Batac chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.

As for the Lady Red Spikers, the game’s best scorer, Paras dominated with 23 points Marianne Louise Tayag contributed 8 points to the board, followed by Patricia Mae Manalac and Patricia Ysabel Cenzon who added 6 points apiece.

The Mapúa Lady Cardinals will compete against the Lyceum of the Philippines University Lady Pirates in their seventh match tomorrow, July 3, at 2:30 PM at the same venue. The game will also be live on GTV and streamed live through the NCAA Philippines and GMA Sports PH official social media platforms.

The Scores:

MU – Ong 15, Babiera 13, Batac 10, Manalo 9, Gaudan 4, Gojol 4, Vergino 4, Fernandez 2, Dalida 1, Ortega (L), Sy (L), Bolandrina 0, Espiritu 0, Cruz 0

SBU – Paras 23, Tayag, M.L. 8, Cenzon 6, Manalac 6, Tayag, M.J. 5, Galang 4, Lapid 2, Buno (L), Gregorio (L), Domingo 0, Ani 0, Espinosa 0, Salangsang 0

Set Scores: 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 23-25