Lady Altas remain in Final 4 race

Others players stepped up when starters Cindy Imbo and Ma. Lourdes Clemente struggled and Perpetual Help drubbed Lyceum, 25-21, 29-27, 25-23, Friday to keep its Final Four hopes alive in the 92nd NCAA women’s volleyball tournament at Arena in San Juan.

Imbo, the team captain, and Clemente couldn’t find their rhythm at the start, forcing Perpetual Help coach Sammy Acaylar to dig deep from his bench.

Good thing Jamela Suyat, Coleen Bravo and Jowie Albert Versoza came through with clutch performances by firing 19, 13 and 11 points, respectively, to power the Lady Altas to their fourth win against three defeats.

“I have faith in all my players that they will deliver if given a chance,” said Acaylar, who was recently appointed as national men’s team coach seeing action in the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games this August.

For the the Lady Altas ti stay in Final Four contention, it would need to beat Jose Rizal on Jan. 18 and Arellano on Jan. 25.

“We know in our hearts that we’re still in it, we just have to believe,” said Acaylar.

The Lady Pirates skidded to 5-2.

Earlier, Emilio Aguinaldo downed Mapua, 25-18, 25-13, 26-24, in a battle of win-less squads.