Altas spikers near finals

University of Perpetual Help moved a win away from sweeping the NCAA men’s volleyball eliminations with a 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 triumph over San Sebastian yesterday at The Arena in San Juan City.

The defending champion Altas hardly flexed their muscles in dispatching the Stags to notch their 8th straight win that pushed them closer to earning an outright finals berth.

Last year’s Rookie-Most Valuable Player Joebert Almodiel spearheaded Perpetual by firing 18 points built on 13 kills and four aces while Ronniel Rosales and Aljoe Sereno added 11 and 10 points.

The Altas showed might behind the net where they fired 45 hits compared to the Stags’ 37, while also providing solid defense with six blocks.

San Sebastian finished the elims with four wins and five losses at fifth place, kissing its semis bid goodbye.

Perpetual’s victory, meanwhile, towed Emilio Aguinaldo College into the Final Four with the latter’s 5-4 win-loss mark. Other semifinalists are College of St. Benilde (7-1) and Arellano (6-2).

The Altas shoots for the outright finals ticket on Thursday against Jose Rizal University (2-6).

In women’s play, the Perpetual Help Lady Altas booted out San Sebastian from the semis contention with a 25-19, 25-8, 18-25, 25-17 victory.