UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help earned an outright finals berth for the third straight year as it dominated Letran, 25-14, 25-15, 25-18, to sweep the elimination round of the NCAA Season 95 volleyball tournament on Thursday at the Arena in San Juan.
Louie Ramirez had 10 points as Perpetual head coach Sammy Acaylar had the luxury of fielding all his players, who combined for 42 kills against Letran’s 21 attacks.
“It’s very hard kasi we are the defending champions. I always tell my players they have to respect all the teams sa NCAA,” said Acaylar. “Sa nangyari sa amin ngayon di ko naman ini-expect. Never sa mind ko na inisip na tatalunin ko ang lahat. Di ko iniisip yun. Iniisip ko lang one step at a time.”
Perpetual Help will not see action for a while, though, with the tournament suspended due to coronavirus concerns.
When action resumes, two more elimination playdates will be held before the stepladder semifinals begin.
Nobody scored in double figures for Letran, with Christopher Cistina coming up with eight points and Michael Doria adding seven as the Knights absorbed their sixth loss in eight outings.
In the women’s division, also-ran Letran upset semifinalist Perpetual Help, 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 16-25, 17-15, to finish its campaign on a high note.
Chamberlaine Cunada scored 19, Daisy Melendres added 16, while Julienne Castro had 12 points, 12 receptions and 10 digs as Letran improved to 4-4.
Perpetual Help dropped to solo fourth at 6-3.
“Noong fifth set na lamang [Perpetual], sabi ko lang na i-enjoy lang nila ang laro,” Letran coach Michael Inoferio said. “One point at a time, makakarating rin tayo. At ‘yun nga ang nangyari.”
Jhona Rosal had 22 points, 13 digs and eight receptions for Perpetual. Yanca Tripoli scored 14 and Charina Scott added 11