Perpetual Help survives five-setter

University of Perpetual Help System DALTA outworked San Beda University in a challenging marathon showdown, 28-30, 25-19, 23-25, 25-17, 16-14, to enter the win column in the 2026 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) Unity Cup on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Jemalyn Menor took over on offense but Cyrille Almeniana delivered the crucial points in the extended deciding set as the Lady Altas bounced back from an opening-day loss.

Perpetual tied idle Letran in second to third with a 1-1 win-loss record in Pool A of the league’s centerpiece competition.

“We worked really hard for this win,” said Menor, who led all scorers with 25 points on 23 kills, one ace and one kill block.

“Coach (Sandy Rieta) pushed us to play harder and we just trusted each other and helped each other inside the court,” she added.

It was a tight crawl to the finish line in the fifth frame.

The Lady Red Spikers erased the Lady Altas’ two-point lead and froze it at 13 after Almeniana’s tip-in went wide. She got a point back on a combination play that put Perpetual at matchpoint.

Angel Habacon answered with a hit to tie it at 14 before Almeniana put matters in her own hands with the match-clinching back-to-back hits to end the two-hour, 45-minute battle.

Almeniana had 14 points, 13 from attacks, Edel Valdez had 10 points while Rae Palacio scored eight for the Lady Altas, who had 14 kill blocks and received 45 free points off San Beda’ 45 errors.

Perpetual boosted its chances of joining pool leader five-peat-seeking National University in the next round.

The Lady Bulldogs secured a playoffs spot after winning three straight games without dropping a single set.

Only the top two teams in each pool will move on to the next phase of the tournament.