University of Perpetual Help System DALTA stamped its class against Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23, to book an outright finals ticket in the NCAA Season 99 men's volleyball tournament on Sunday at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The three-time defending champions also grabbed their fifth straight elimination round sweep dating back to Season 93 in 2018 where the ALTAs swept the regular season before outlasting Arellano in the championship round.
Standing tall anew was the tandem of Louie Ramirez and Jeff Marapoc.
The reigning MVP poured in 20 points and five receptions while the sophomore Marapoc churned out 13 markers all on attacks as the ALTAs improved to 9-0 while dealing the Generals their first loss to go 8-1.
Perpetual flexed its might all game long but the Generals kept it close the whole time and even forced a 22-all deadlock in the second frame. But composure prevailed for the Las Piñas crew with Mike Medalla rejecting Ervin Osabel for the set point, 24-22.
A miscommunication on the side of EAC then sent Perpetual to a commanding 2-0 set lead.
The ALTAs made sure to establish a cushion right away with opposite hitter Kobe Tabuga and Ramirez conniving to give their camp a 16-12 advantage while a Medalla drop from the middle made it a 20-16 lead.
Once again, the Generals tried to mount a rally, unleashing a 4-1 rampage before Jan Abor won a joust to cut their deficit to just one, 23-22. Abor, though, went too strong on his attack as Perpetual cruised to the match point.
The lefty Abor made up for it by taking advantage of an overpass to save one match point, but a desperate timeout from Perpetual proved effective as Ramirez hammered a kill from the middle to seal it off.
Tabuga tallied nine points built on four blocks and three attacks while Medalla finished with seven markers off two blocks.
Osabel paced EAC with 20 points while Abor chipped in 14 markers.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
