MANILA, Philippines — University of Perpetual Help was looking for a breakthrough win to jack up its NCAA women’s volleyball campaign.
On Wednesday, it found what it was looking for, and more.
Perpetual inflicted three-time champion Arellano its first defeat, exacted vengeance from last year’s finals, and gained dramatic inroad to the Final Four with their fifth consecutive victory.
“It’s about time we enter the Final Four with a twice-to-beat,” said Perptual coach Macky Carino in Filipino. “We wanted to experience entering the semifinals as favorites.”
It’s still far down the road, of course, as the Lady Altas would need two more wins to make it to the semis outright and a lot more has to happen for them to nail top two which carries with it the Final Four shield.
But for Carino, beating the fearsome Lady Chiefs should bolster their morale and send across the message the Lady Altas are a force to be reckoned with after tying their victims at 5-1.
“Who doesn’t want to beat the defending champions?” said Carino after their thrilling 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-12, 16-14 triumph at Filoil Flying V Center.
They thought long and hard against the Lady Chiefs, according to Carino.
“Monday (after beating Jose Rizal) we started preparing, then we watched videos of their games Tuesday morning and practiced in the afternoon same as our gametime today,” said Carino.
As a result, Perpetual got its mental toughness checked out and its blocking honed to killing sharpness — foiling Arellano’s attempts 81 times, scoring 12.
Perpetual’s defense made things miserable for Arellano hitters Regine Arocha and Necole Ebuen as top Lady Altas’ Jhona Rosal, Jenny Gaviola and Dana Persa combined for 47 points.
Gaviola accounted for seven kill-blocks, while Charina Scott scored four, two on blocks.
In the second game, Letran posted its second win in four games after a 27-25, 25-14, 25-16 rout of Mapua (1-3).