No sweep.
Emilio Aguinaldo College spoiled Perpetual Help’s sweep bid in the men’s and juniors division with rousing victories Friday 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 and foiling the latter’s hope of sweeping their way to the finals.
It also catapulted EAC from No. 2 to No. 1 by notching its eighth win in nine games and clinching a twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four in the process.
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.
“All the players especially Howard (Mojica) want to win,” said EAC coach Rodrigo Palmero in Filipino.
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 uncorked 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.
If Perpetual Help won and eventually ended up with a sweep, it will advance stright to the finals and enjoy a thrice-to-beat incentive while sending the next three teams including EAC into a tough stepladder semis.
But EAC had other things in mind.