San Beda University pulled off a 27-25, 12-25, 25-17, 25-18 win against Arellano University to advance to the NCAA Season 98 men’s volleyball championship on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The win set up a best-of-three finals showdown between the Red Spikers and two-time defending champion University of Perpetual Help System DALTA.
Game 1 of the finals will begin on April 11 followed by Game Two on April 14 at the same venue.
Justine Santos’ three straight points powered a 4-0 run for San Beda as the Mendiola crew saw its lead go up to six, 11-5, to kick off the crucial fourth set.
Rookie Ralph Cabalsa continued his fine showing for San Beda, going for a kill for a 15-8 spread before Santos sent them to the second technical timeout enjoying a seven-point advantage.
Ryan Rosman then came alive, drilling back-to-back attacks before Arellano staged a small rally to trim its deficit to five, 15-20.
But Kenrod Umali’s ace brought San Beda to the match point, 24-27, and Kim Tan went wide on his own service to give the Red Spikers the victory.
The Chiefs struggled to recover as star scorer Carl Berdal didn’t play since the start of the fourth. He was nursing an injury he first sustained in their previous game against EAC.
Umali dropped 15 points and four receptions while Santos and Cabalsa each finished with 13 markers with the latter listing four digs for San Beda.
Berdal, despite his early exit, still led Arellano with 17 points while Guinto chipped in 13 in the loss.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
