MANILA, Philippines – Perpetual Help routed Emilio Aguinaldo, 25-13, 25-18, 25-16, on Tuesday to move on the cusp of clinching its second straight title in the 91st NCAA juniors volleyball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Team captain Jody Margaux Severo led the attack with a match-best 11 hits, six of which came on kills and four on blocks as the Junior Altas claimed a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series.
"The boys were determined to take this one, they were really focused on winning," said Perpetual Help coach Sandy Rieta.
The Las Pinas-based school will have a chance to wrap it all up in Game Two set on Friday.
A deciding Game Three, if necessary, is on Tuesday next week.
And the Junior Altas took away the Brigadiers' attacking game with a solid net defense and superb court coverage.
"We came into the finals to really deny their spikers and double our efforts in scrambling for the ball and the boys succeeded on both," said Rieta.
So unnerving was Perpetual Help's defense that only four EAC players scored including eight apiece by skipper Cee-Hay Hicap and Ralph Joshua Pitogo.