University of Perpetual Help System Dalta eyes a rare sweep of all women’s, men’s and juniors’ championships in today’s start of the 94th NCAA volleyball finals at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Lady Altas pulled off the most dramatic victory among the lot after shocking the top-seeded College of St. Benilde Lady Blazers twice, capped by a come-from-behind 25-17, 27-29, 19-25, 26-24, 16-14 win last Tuesday that was highlighted by a mighty rally from 11-12 down in the fourth set.
That win set UPHSD up against defending champion Arellano University, which trampled last year’s finals foe San Beda University in the Final Four to book the first slot to the best-of-three finale.
The Macky Carino-mentored Lady Altas also joined the Altas and the Junior Altas in the finals for a chance to scoop up all crowns in one season that would put them in the elite company of Ateneo, a former member, and San Sebastian, who both accomplished such rare feat.
Ateneo did it in the 1976 season, while San Sebastian lorded it over a record five times in 1984, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2002.
Both the Altas and the Junior Altas are tipped to win it against the Blazers and the Letran Squires, respectively, after the former two hammered out a nine-game sweep of the elimination round to leapfrog straight to the finals.
The Altas, mentored by Sammy Acaylar, have also been dominating men’s volleyball the last eight seasons when they won six of their 11 crowns, while the Junior Altas were untouchable the last four years when they won four in row to hike their total to 10.
In contrast, Perpetual Help will come into its series with AU as a complete underdog as the latter won three of the last four women’s crowns.
Carino, however, is hoping they could carry their giant-slaying ways in the Final Four to the finals.
“If we play the way we did against Benilde, why not? Nothing is impossible if you play with heart,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Lady Altas-Lady Chiefs’ game will be aired live on ABS-CBN S+A, S+A HD, LIGA, LIGA HD, and via livestream on sports.abs-cbn.com, the ABS-CBN Sports YouTube channel, and iWant.
Before their championship match, the men’s game airs at 2 p.m.
The NCAA will recognize the top volleyball players of the season on Feb. 8, followed by Game 2 of the Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Finals, with the live telecast and livestream starting at 1:30 p.m.
Don’t miss the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Finalson ABS-CBN S+A, S+A HD, LIGA, LIGA HD, sports.abs-cbn.com, ABS-CBN Sports YouTube, and iWant. For news on NCAA, follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook and Twitter or visit sports.abs-cbn.com. For updates, follow @ABSCBNPR on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or visit www.abscbnpr.com.