Perpetual Help wins over San Sebastian in NCAA volleyball semis

Photo from Perpetual Help website.

MANILA, Philippines — Reigning titlist Perpetual Help fended off a late game rally by San Sebastian and survived with a 25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 26-24 win in the NCAA season women’s volleyball semifinals late Friday.

Power hitting veteran Honey Royse Tubino dropped 21 points — mostly in an early scoring burst in the fourth set that buried the Lady Stags, 15-5.

But it was the last two points from Sandra Delos Santos, who added 17 points, which sealed the Lady Altas’ win as San Sebastian rallied back to tie the game at 24-all.

“We got overconfident in that sent, we were rattled so we weren’t able to receive the ball well,” said Tubino in an interview in Filipino. “We just hung tough and trusted each other.”

Perpetual Help got a 1-0 start in the single round robin semifinals, with the top two teams advancing to the final round.

Rookie Gretchel Soltones showed immense power and churned out 24 points, 20 off kills, but the Lady Stags  missed the presence of Bamcie Belen, who torned her ACL.

The Lady Stags tied the match at a set apiece with a 26-24 win, but just couldn’t get the breaks in the ensuing sets.