Peter Warren Pirante made his final game a memorable one as he powered Letran to its third straight NCAA men's volleyball crown at the expense of San Beda, 29-27, 22-25, 25-21, 26-28, 15-11, last Sunday at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym.

Shrugging off a fourth-set meltdown, Pirante scored five points in the deciding set to help the Knights beat the Red Lions in the finals for the second straight season in a grueling two-hour, 21-minute clash.

The stocky but power-hitting Pirante led all scorers with 21 points and was named Most Valuable Player. Ariel dela Cruz and Erickson Joseph Ramos added 18 and 16 points, respectively as the Muralla-based spikers won their 14th overall crown.

It was a sweet win for Letran mentor Brian Esquivel, whose team barely made it to the semifinals after finishing with a 4-4 record in the single-round eliminations.

Letran entered the best-of-three series as the heavy underdogs after San Beda finished with a 7-1 record in the elims before sweeping the single-round semis. But the Knights won series opener in five sets before losing the second game last Thursday.

"Siguro ito ang pinakamasarap dun sa tatlong sunod na napanalunan namin dahil nanggaling pa kami sa ilalim," said Esquivel.

Rookie Lorenzo Capante led the Mendiola-based squad in a losing cause with 18 points while lanky Sylvester Honrade, a member of the RP national team that competed in the recent Asian Senior Men's Volleyball tournament, added 15 hits.