Perpetual Help overpowered St. Benilde-La Salle Greenhills, 25-10, 25-9, 25-9, yesterday to set in motion its title-retention bid in the juniors division of the 92nd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The Junior Altas relied mostly from their second group Vergel Golloso, Paul Solamin and Aljohn Abalon, who fired 12, 10 and 10 hits, respectively, to nail their first win while jumpstarting their back-to-back championship bid.
Jody Margaux Severo, last year’s Finals MVP, and team captain EJ Gabriel Casana, the reigning Best Setter, played in just the opening set and sat out the rest of the way.
Ryuji Conrad Etorma, the league’s best spiker, also didn’t play.
“We just want to give everybody a chance to play,” said Perpetual Help coach Sandy Rieta, who is seeking to steer the Las Pinas-based school to its ninth crown, second only to the league best 15 owned by the San Sebastian Staglets.