Perpetual Junior Lady Altas and Mapua Junior Spikers drew first blood in game one of the NCAA Season 99 Volleyball Fiesta championship.
The five-set thriller between Perpetual and Arellano in the girls division did not disappoint the jam-packed FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Perpetual weathered Catherine Chu’s 34-point explosion for Arellano, escaping narrowly with the victory, 25-22,17-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-13.
Already at match point, Perpetual had the chance to close the game before Isabel Baser committed a service error and Jemalyn Menor overpowered her attack. The back-to-back errors gave Arellano the chance to inch closer, 14-13.
The Las Piñas-based school was forced to call a timeout to stop Arellano’s momentum and draw out the finishing play.
In the following position, Jamine Monte set-up Jamaica San Juan for the killer blow that hit Arellano’s back zone.
Jemalyn Menor, a native of Bani, Pangasinan, top scored the Junior Lady Altas on Mother’s day with 23 points on 19 attacks and three service aces, which according to her, added additional motivation to her stellar play.
Aside from Menor, Sherrie Acosta also hit double-digits with 20 markers.
“Magagaling po lahat ng teammates ko and nagpapasalamat po ako sa mga coaches dahil lahat ng pinaghirapan namin ay na-apply namin sa buong game namin ngayon. Tiwala lang sa isa’t-isa hanggang makuha namin yung pagkapanalo hanggang dulo. ,” Menor told GMA Regional TV News on their team’s performance.
The Mapua Junior Spikers meanwhile, swept the Arellano Braves in the boys division, 25-23, 25-16, 25-23.
Albukharie Sali spearheaded Mapua’s attack who finished with 15 points while Jayvee Valenzuela and team captain Charles Segui added 10 points apiece.
Abram Robles led Arellano’s offense and was their lone player who hit double digits with 13.
Game two of the NCAA Season 99 Volleyball Fiesta will commence on Wednesday, May 15, with the girls division squaring at 7:30 a.m. while the boys division will face off at 5:00 p.m.