History is made as the men’s volleyball crown heads to Legarda for the first time.
Arellano University completed a finals series sweep against Colegio de San Juan de Letran with a 24-26, 25-21, 25-15, 25-17, Game 2 win to rule the NCAA Season 100 men’s volleyball on Wednesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
This marked a breakthrough men’s title for the Chiefs following years of falling short in the Final Four.
"Sobrang saya kasi matagal na naming pinagarap 'to at tinrabaho talaga ng mga bata. Ang daming nangyari sa team, may mga struggles during season tsaka mga away," first-year Arellano head coach Bryan Vitug said.
"Lalo nagpatibay sa amin 'yun kaya nakuha namin 'yung championship."
Arellano’s entire Season 100 run basically mirrored its Game 2 performance: a slow start then a composed recovery to get the job done.
The Chiefs, who struggled early in the tournament before peaking late, dropped the opening set after rallying from a 20-24 deficit with a 4-0 run, only to falter late as the Knights escaped with an extended Set 1 victory.
But that only woke the Chiefs up in the succeeding sets. AC Guinto and Anfernee Curamen took charge in the second set, delivering the last four points to level the series and breathe life back to the Chiefs, who overcame a twice-to-win disadvantage against Mapua University in the Final Four.
Carl Berdal then ran the show in Set 3 as the graduating outside spiker rained down a flurry of points, including a single block against Dave Lardizabal on the latter's quick kill attempt as the Chiefs took a commanding 2-1 set lead.
The Chiefs never let up since then, swinging away from a slim 14-13 lead to a massive 19-13 cushion after a Curamen denial on Felix Bermido on the opposite side.
Berdal's back-to-back attacks saw the Chiefs racing to a 22-15 lead before sophomore Jake Pangilinan sealed the deal, completing a quick hammer off a perfect set-up from veteran setter Adi Villados.
Berdal gave his best in his last collegiate game, finishing with 16 points anchored on 15 attacks and one block together with six digs on the way to claiming the Finals MVP plum.
The other starters supplied the help with AC Guinto tallying 17 markers and 20 receptions while Jiwen Sinuto chipped in 14 markers. The middle-blocker tandem of Curamen and Pangilinan chipped in 12 nad 10 points apiece to help Arellano complete its destiny.
"Sobrang saya po kasi na-achieve po namin 'yung goal namin and maganda 'yung iiwan namin sa Arellano University bago kami umalis kasi marami kaming graduating," Berdal said.
"Ito 'yung dati lang na pinapangarap namin eh, ngayon nagkatotoo na."
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
