Emilio Aguinaldo College foiled Perpetual Help's sweep bid in the men's and juniors division with rousing victories on Thursday in the 91st NCAA volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
The Generals, the reigning men's champions, hacked out a 25-20, 25-22, 25-17 victory that dealt the Altas their first defeat in eight outings, quashing the latter's hope of heading straight to the finals.
With its eighth win in nine games, EAC grabbed the top spot in the standings and also clinched a twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four.
Reigning MVP Howard Mojica came through with a monster game, unleashing a match-best 20 hits, 15 of which came on kills and five off his powerful jump serves.
EAC also sent defending juniors titlist Perpetual Help to its first setback in six games with a heart-stopping 25-27, 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 15-7 triumph.
Ralph Joshua Pitogo unloaded 22 hits while skipper Cee-Jay Hicap and Ederson Rebusora fired 18 and 12 points, respectively, to likewise seal the Brigadiers the twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four with a 6-1 mark.
The Junior Altas fell to 5-1.
Had Perpetual Help won and ended up with a sweep, they would have advanced straight to the finals with a thrice-to-beat edge while sending the next three teams into a tough stepladder semis.