Jr Altas, Pirates seal NC volley title duel

MANILA, Philippines - Perpetual Help swept its way to the juniors finals even as Arellano University and San Sebastian took different paths to arrange a women’s title showdown in the 90th NCAA volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

The Junior Altas downed the Staglets, 25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 25-11, to barge into the best-of-three showdown for the high school crown against the Lyceum Junior Pirates, who won via defeault against the Emilio Aguinaldo Brigadiers to seal the last ticket to the finals bus.

“Now that we’ve accomplished our initial goal to make the finals, we’re now focused on winning the title,” said Perpetual coach Sandy Rieta, who is seeking to steer the Las Piñas-based school to its first title since winning a back-to-back three seasons ago.

San Sebastian, for its part, dumped a disheartened Perpetual side with a surprisingly easy 25-22, 25-20, 25-19, to book a spot in the women’s finale against Arellano, which dropped a heartbreaking 16-25, 22-25, 25-12, 25-12, 12-15 decision to College of St. Benilde.

The Lady Stags and the Lady Chiefs actually ended in a three-way tie for the last two slots with the Lady Blazers but ended up arranging a series after emerging with the two highest tiebreak scores.