NCAA volleyball: Alvarez scores season-high as JRU bolsters Final 4 bid

JRU Lady Bombers. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Jose Rizal University bucked a bad start to beat Letran, 22-25, 28-26, 25-17, 25-16, and strengthen its bid for a Final Four spot in the NCAA Season 93 women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Shola Alvarez showed why she’s a legitimate MVP candidate with 30 points, the most by any player this season, to lead the Lady Bombers’ rally.

“Letran was well-prepared coming into this game. Luckily for us, we were able to make adjustments midway through the second set,” said JRU coach Mia Tioseco.

JRU grabbed a share with idle San Sebastian in fourth place at 5-3 as the fight for a Final Four ticket intensifies. The Lady Bombers play also-ran Lyceum in their final game in the elimination round.

“I always tell my players that we have a goal and that is to get into the Final Four. But we have to take it one game at a time.”

JRU overcome a 17-8 hole behind Alvarez, who did most of her damage in a scintillating second set.

Lettan unraveled the moment JRU made its comeback and the team wasn’t the same in the third and fourth sets.

The Lady Knights already had no answer for Alvarez and things got even more complicated for them with the Lady Bombers also drawing significant contributions from Dolly Versoza.

Versoza, who ended the second set with a hit and the fourth frame with back-to-back service aces. She wound up with 17 points.

Glayssa Torres scored 16 points for the Lady Knights (3-5), who dropped out of semifinals contention.