ARELLANO University’s Christian dela Paz finished as the second best outside spiker behind rookie MVP Joebert Almodiel of Perpetual Help.
Dela Paz, however, made sure he will be second fiddle no more in the biggest stage of all—the finals.
Drawing strength from Dela Paz outshining Almodiel, Arellano University pulled the rug from under Perpetual Help, 12-25, 25-21, 19-25, 26-24, 15-9, yesterday to inch closer to snaring its very first men’s championship in the 93rd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
The 20-year-old dela Paz, a transferee from of University of the Philippines, unleashed a 24-point performance, including 23 off kills to power the Chiefs to a 1-0 edge in their best-of-three title duel and a victory away from claiming their first ever crown.
Game 2 is on Monday while a decider, if necessary, is on Thursday.
“We just focused on helping each other as a team and not get intimidated by them,” said dela Paz, who hails from Parang, Marikina, in Filipino.
In juniors’ action, Letran eliminated top seed Emilio Aguinaldo, 25-23, 28-30, 25-23, 25-23, to arrange a best-of-three title duel with No. 2 seed Perpetual Help starting on Monday.
Games Monday
(Filoil Flying V Center)
11 a.m.- UPHSD vs Letran (jrs)
2 p.m.- UPHSD vs AU (m)
4 p.m.- SBU vs AU (w)