MANILA, Philippines — 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, backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken, Potato Corner and R&B Milk Tea.     “Talagang nagtulungan kami sa loob ng court, pinaghirapan namin talaga ito para maipanalo ‘yung game namin ngayong araw,” said Menor, who led all scorers with 25 points on 23 kills, one ace and one kill block. “Pinush lang kami ni coach (Sandy Rieta) na magtiwala lang kami sa sarili namin and nagtulungan kami sa loob ng 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 knotted 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 markers 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, supported by Smart, PusoP.com DICT, Executive Optical, Milo and Summit Natural Drinking Water.      Last year’s runner-up University of Santo Tomas (2-0) in Pool B, Far Eastern University (2-0) in Pool C and University of the Philippines (2-0) in Pool D are all through to the second stage of the competition, which has Philippine Sports Commission, the Commission on Higher Education, Mikasa, Asics, Rigour Technology, Jersey Haven, Solar Sports and 12 Beyond Production as technical partners. The Lady Red Spikers suffered a second straight defeat in as many starts. Habacon had 16 points on 13 spikes, two kills blocks and an ace, Daisy Cagas finished with 12 markers while Jermaine Joniega and Aiezel Parumog added nine each for the Mendiola-based squad. Games continue on Friday with Letran taking on San Beda at 1 p.m. followed by the 3 p.m. clash between Jose Rizal University and College of Saint Benilde. NU closes its pool play campaign against Perpetual at 5 p.m.     All games are available live and on demand via PusoP.com and Solar Sports. TMT