MANILA, Philippines - Defending champion Perpetual Help rolled past Mapua, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20, yesterday to force a three-way tie for second in the men’s division of the 92nd NCAA volleyball tournament at the FilOil Flying Center in San Juan.
Allan Jay Sala-an unloaded a match-best 13 hits, including nine on kills, while Kasim Esmail and Rey Taneo r. added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to power the Altas to joint second with the St. Benilde Blazers and the San Beda side with 3-1 slates.
Relan Taneo kept the Las Piñas-based school’s offense going with 30 excellent sets.
The win also put Perpetual Help back on track after absorbing a heartbreaking 25-18, 29-27, 23-25, 27-29, 10-15 decision to San Beda on Nov. 20.
“We’re getting our confidence back after our loss to SBC,” said Perpetual Help coach Sammy Acaylar.
The troika of Sala-an, Esmail and Taneo came through in the tightly-fought opening set, scoring crucial kills and making key defensive plays upfront.
Mapua never recovered from that big Perpetual windup in the first and struggled in the next two sets.