Louie Ramirez continued to provide leadership for the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Altas, who completed a nine-match sweep of the men’s elimination round of the 95th National Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament.
Ramirez tossed in 10 points for the Altas in coming up with a 25-14, 25-15, 25-18 beating of the Letran Knights last Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
This gave the Altas an automatic finals’ seat as they will now wait the survivor of the step-ladder semifinal phase.
The semis will go on once the league lifts the indefinite suspension of the games due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
So far, the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals and the Arellano University Chiefs are already in the semifinals.
On the other hand, the College of Saint Benilde Blazers are jockeying for position with San Beda University and Mapua for the last slot.
“It’s very hard kasi we are the defending champions. I always tell my players they have to respect all the teams sa NCAA,” said Perpetual Help coach Sammy Acaylar.
The Altas, who have been unbeaten for 22 straight games over the last two years, got big plays from Ronniel Rosales, Ridzuan Muhali and Kennry Malinis, who combined for 23 points.
Earlier, three-time defending champion Arellano University pulled off a 25-15, 25-14, 25-20 triumph over Emilio Aguinaldo College, to assure themselves of at least a playoff for a twice-to-beat advantage in the finals of the women’s action.
With Regine Arocha spending time to rest on the bench, the Lady Chiefs leaned on Carla Donato and Nicole Ebuen in coming up with key plays for the Lady Chiefs.
Donato and Ebuen took over the scoring duties with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Lady Chiefs.
The Lady Chiefs will try to secure the Final Four incentive with unbeaten College of St. Benilde (7-0) when action resumes.
