Mapua escaped San Sebastian’s gritty plays, 15-25, 25-23, 25-18, 19-25, 15-12, Wednesday in NCAA women’s volleyball tournament at the Paco Arena.
Therese Manalo, Jonina Fernandez and Alyanna Ong starred for the Lady Cardinals by combining for 44 points to nail their first victory in two matches.
Manalo led with 16 points while Fernandez and Ong added 14 points each for Mapua, who rose from an opening-set stumble and survived a fourth-set defeat en route to the win.
Fernandez and Manalo stepped up on the offensive lane by teaming up with 26 kills, outshining the efforts of Reyann Caneta and Katherine Santos for San Sebastian.
The Lady Stags actually outspiked the Lady Cardinals, 51-49, but it was the team effort in the crunch that won for Mapua.
Santos and Canete finished with 19 points in a losing effort for San Sebastian, which evened its win-loss record to 1-1.