MANILA, Philippines - Defending girls’ champion De La Salle-Lipa hardly worked out a sweat in disposing of Jesus Christ Academy, cruising to a one-sided 25-1, 25-8 victory in the Toby’s Juniors Volleyball League at Lyceum gym last Sunday.
The boys’ team of DLS-Lipa also coasted to a 25-9, 25-8 romp over Academy of God’s Children, giving the Batangas-based squad a big start in the tournament sponsored by Toby’s Sports.
Palanan Elem. School, meanwhile, fought back from eight points down in the second set as it pounced on the erratic Xavier side to pound out a 25-17, 25-22 victory in other boys’ match.
After taking the opening set, the PES tossers sputtered and fell by as many as eight but regrouped in time to force a 12-all count. It was see-saw battle from there as they fought to 17-all and 21-all deadlocks before Palanan surged ahead at 23-22.
The Xavier spikers then cracked under pressure, yielding the next two points on errors and enabling PES to complete a straight-set victory in the league backed by Shakey’s Pizza, LBC, Mikasa and Asics.
Concepcion Elem. School scored a walkover win over Ateneo in the other boys’ contest.
The top two teams in each bracket of both divisions after a single round robin elims will advance to the crossover semis with the winners clashing for the crown.