Lady Altas shoot for fourth straight; SBC-Arellano clash

Perpetual Help coach Macky Cariño believes his wards gained mental toughness during their come-from-behind win last week over Mapua.

“To come back after being down two sets and overcome the frustration, that’s a big morale boost for us,” Cariño said in Filipino.

Now he wants Perpetual to apply those new gains when it faces skidding Jose Rizal on Monday in the 95th NCAA women’s volleyball at Filoil Flying V Centre.

While the Lady Altas are on a three-game winning run, the Lady Bombers are on a three-game slide.

“But we need to be more consistent,” said Cariño after they came up soft against the struggling Lady Cardinals last week. “These are the teams we can beat to pile up enough wins to make the semis.”

He has reasons to fret because in two days’ time, Perpetual will battle three-time defending champion Arellano.

“Our tendency is to prepare much ahead because of the frequency of the games, so maybe my team is looking at facing Arellano already and reserving their energy,” he said.

San Beda has that problem now as it puts a 3-0 start on the line against fearsome Arellano in the first match at 12 noon.

Both the Lady Red Spikers and the Lady Chiefs are unbeaten. But Arellano is coming off a busy week and even practiced the whole of Sunday.

“It’s going to be very difficult to beat Arellano,” said San Beda coach Nemesio Gavino Jr. “Their floor defense is solid. It’s hard to get the ball to fall on their court. So we need to study well.”

Arellano coach Obet Javier said they will have to make sure they’re fit, mentally and physically, because the season’s format is tough. INQ