Arellano University survived Emilio Aguinaldo College, 25-14, 22-25, 25-17, 17-25, 15-13 to claim the second seed in the NCAA Season 98 men’s volleyball tournament on Tuesday.
The win allowed the Chiefs to improve to 8-1 while the Generals dropped to 6-3 ahead of the stepladder Final Four starting on Sunday.
Arellano’s top scorer Carl Berdal went down with an injury early in the second which eventually saw the Chiefs fall to the Generals in tight fashion, 22-25.
But Kim Tan stepped up in the third set as they took a 25-17 victory despite the absence of Berdal, who never returned to the ball game after the incident.
EAC, though, gained its winning ways in the fourth to force a decider with Owa Ramillo and Marvin Romero leading the way.
Ramilo then knotted the game at 13-all with a powerful hit before a Jan Abor service error sent the Chiefs to the match point. Arellano shut the door on Ramilo to complete the five-set victory.
Tan led with 15 points while Anffernee Curamen dropped 15 with team captain Jethro Cabillan adding 14 in the win.
The loss spoiled Abor’s 26-point outing and Romero’s 21-point performance.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
