Generals, Altas dispute NC men’s volley crown

MANILA, Philippines – Defending champion Emilio Aguinaldo College and Perpetual Help dispute the NCAA men’s volleyball crown in sudden death today at the Arena in San Juan City with odds just about even between the league’s top hitting teams.

Behind their rock-solid blocking and superb court coverage, the Altas pulled the rug from under the fancied Generals, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19, in Friday’s Game Two to force a winner-take-all match starting at 2 p.m.

Diminutive but big-hearted Rey Taneo Jr. is expected to spearhead the Altas’ offense again after unleashing a team-best 16 hits, including 13 attack points, while six-footer Ranidean Philipe Abcede hopes to improve on his four-block performance the last time out.

“Everything will rely on how our defense holds. If we can play like the way we did in Game Two, we’ll have a chance,” said Perpetual Help coach Sammy Acaylar, looking for his 11th championship. He also has eight juniors and three women’s titles since he started coaching for the Las Piñas-based school three decades ago.

With their net defense holding, the Altas held reigning league MVP Howard Mojica to just 22 points.

The power-hitting Mojica actually also scored 22 in in leading the Generals to a 25-22, 14-25, 25-14, 25-16 victory in the series’ opener but the Altas found away to limit the rest of the EAC players’ production.