UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help grabbed the last ticket to the NCAA Season 94 women’s volleyball Final Four, while the Altas and Junior Altas accomplished their nine-game elimination sweep for outright Finals berths in their respective divisions on Thursday at the Arena in San Juan City.
The Lady Altas defused the Jose Rizal University Lady Bombers, 25-13, 19-25, 25-21, 25-14, to claim the last Final Four berth.
Cindy Imbo led the collective effort of Perpetual Help with game-high 18 points built on 14 kills and four service aces and protected the floor with 22 digs and nine excellent receptions. Blanca Tripoli delivered 14 hits, while Shyra Mae Umandal and Jhona Rosal added 13 markers each.
Lady Altas head coach Macky Cariño said that his wards showed sense of urgency after winning the important match that ended their three-season Final Four drought.
“Sabi ko kapag natalo tanggal, simple lang,” Carino said. “Alam namin kung anong mangyayari sa game today. Kung manalo kami proceed kami. Kapag matalo kami, tanggal. So yun ang sabi ko, it’s a matter of choice kung gusto nyong mag-semis maglaro kayo ng maayos pa.”
Perpetual Help finished the eliminations with a 6-3 win-loss record winning its last two crucial matches and will take on the league leader and twice-to-beat College of Saint Benilde (8-1) on Tuesday.
Dolly Grace Verzosa and Karen Montojo powered JRU with 17 and 11 points, respectively, only for the Lady Bombers to bomb out of contention finishing at sixth place with a 4-5 card.
Lyceum of the Philippines University took the fifth place also finishing with 4-5 record but with a higher quotient after ending its Season 94 campaign with a 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 victory over Letran (2-7).
Cherilyn Sindayen had 19 points and 24 digs, while Rocelyn Hongria added 17 hits.
Meanwhile, the defending champion Altas completed a nine-game elimination round sweep with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-13 demolition of ousted JRU Heavy Bombers to claim the outright Finals.
Ronniel Rosales showed the way for Perpetual Help with 14 points, while reigning NCAA MVP and last year’s top rookie Joebert Almodiel had 12 hits including 10 excellent receptions and six digs as the Altas marched to their fourth consecutive Finals appearance.
Perpetual Help will wait for its best-of-three Finals foe as third placer Arellano University (6-2) against fourth seed Emilio Aguinaldo College (5-4) will clash in a knockout match of the stepladder semifinals phase one on Tuesday.
The winner between EAC and Arellano will set another knockout game against second placer CSB (8-1) for the last Finals berth.
In Juniors’ play, Noel Michael Kampton unloaded 12 points all coming from spikes as the Junior Altas also completed a nine-game sweep en route to the Finals capped by a 25-13, 25-17, 25-11 victory over JRU Light Bombers.
Lyceum (6-2) and EAC (5-4) will clash in the first phase of the stepladder on Tuesday with the winner forging another knockout battle with second placer Letran (6-2) for the last Finals ticket.
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