WITH its sights set on getting back at last season’s finals tormentor and defending three-time champion Arellano University, Perpetual Help pulled off a dramatic win yesterday.
The Lady Altas rose from the dead and scored a nail-biting 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-12, 16-14 decision over the Lady Chiefs for their fifth straight victory in the 95th NCAA women’s volleyball tournament before a wild and roaring crowd at The Arena in San Juan.
In the other match, Letran whipped Mapua University 27-25, 25-14, 25-16 for its second win.
Chamberlaine Cunada scored 16 points all on spikes, while Julienne Castro contributed 12 hits.
The Lady Knights snapped a two-game losing skid and evened their record to 2-2 for fifth.
The Lady Cardinals slipped to 1-3.
The triumph seemed to be in the bag for Arellano after it took the first sets but Perpetual charged back behind its defense at the net. The Lady Altas leaned on a 4-1 windup that broke a 21-all tie in the thied frame capped by a Jhona Rosal hit to extend the match.
Perpetual handily won the fourth that dragged the match into a deciding set.
Lady Chief Donnalyn Paralejas committed a costly service error that brought the Lady Altas to match point 15-14.
A block by Perpetual skipper and setter Jenny Gaviola on Arellano spiker Princess Bello sealed the Lady Altas’ hard-earned triumph and completed their fightback in front of 700 spectators.
Rosal shone anew for Perpetual with 15 points on 13 attacks, while Gaviola chipped in 12 markers built on seven blocks.
