FIRST, it was a UAAP rookie in Adamson captain Shaina Nitura who shattered the league’s 12-year-old single-game scoring record on Mar. 16.
READ: In just her rookie season, these are all the records Shaina Nitura broke
It would be Letran rookie Vanessa Sarie’s turn exactly two months later to etch her name in the annals of collegiate women’s volleyball.
Compared to Nitura’s historic 38-piece in a five-set loss to the University of the Philippines, the Lady Knights’ ace scorer was able to cap her record-breaking display with a win.
Sarie's record-37 points and 23 receptions steered the Lady Knights to a hard-earned 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 23-25, 17-15 win to foil Arellano’s late reverse-sweep bid on Friday at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Sports and Cultural Center.
Having played in Bicol all her life, Letran’s outside hitter was quick to shrug off jitters in transitioning to life in the metro, as evidenced in the game of her life to quash a league record that stood for 11 years.
A herculean effort built on 35 attacks, one block, and one ace, Sarie surpassed the 36-point scoring benchmarks set by both San Beda’s Angel Habacon (Season 99; 2024) and San Sebastian’s Grethcel Soltones (Season 90; 2014).
Coincidentally, it was Nitura’s sister Judiel who backed Sarie’s career game with 16 points of her own.
Um-arriba Letran!
An eventful five-set contest even saw Letran head coach Oliver Almadro receive simultaneous yellow and red cards following a contentious call late in the fourth set, as his side trailed 23-24.
In the end, the Lady Knights erased a 4-11 deficit in the fifth set with Sarie firing the two match-clinching points from a 15-all deadlock for their league-best 13th win in 15 matches this season.
Letran carries the hope that Sarie’s 37-piece won’t be the only piece of history it’ll be making in Season 100, as it moved another win closer to the ultimate goal of ending the school’s 26-year women’s volleyball championship drought.
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