It seemed to be bad luck on my part primarily (though the fact that Vera was short on XP due to me going for Black Magic didn't help either since he was just short of 21), but yeah, the strategy should be more or less the same, though I ended up Freeze Comboing one of the Hounds first, repeating with the other and finishing with the Specialist. I also had to equip the Mining Helmets and items that granted Vitality and Physical Defense bonuses. It's weird because I wasn't having as much trouble with the one before it...
Ah well, now I'm struggling with the Guardians of Z7 (getting better, but for some reason the weaker one still dies before I can get the other down to the same level and I end up using Ice Wall to delay the inevitable until my party is thoroughly decimated by the survivior's Lightning Bolt O' Death).