NCR, 2 others pace Shakey’s Girls’ Volleyball League finals

MANILA, Philippines - National Capital Region dismantled Northern Mindanao in straight-set fashion while defending champion Western Visayas and Southern Luzon needed extra sets to hurdle their respective rivals as they set the pace in the opener of the Shakey’s Girls’ Volleyball League Season 13 national finals at the Astrodome last Monday.

The NCR bets, represented by National U, overpowered their Northern Mindanao rivals from the Angelicum Learning Center, scoring a 25-15, 25-20 romp in Pool B of the two-group finals featuring eight regional winners of the annual event sponsored by long-time volleyball patron Shakey’s.

Southern Luzon, bannered by the De La Salle-Lipa bets, joined NCR in the Pool B lead with a tough 25-16, 24-26, 25-21 victory over Central Visayas, anchored by the University of San Jose-Recoletos bets, while Western Visayas, which stunned NCR in last year’s championship on a team built around St. John’s Institute stalwarts, bucked a shaky start to thwart Northern Luzon, 22-25, 25-9, 25-23, in Pool A of the event, which produced some of the current stars of the sport.

WV, now represented by Central Philippine U, and Southern Luzon were gunning for win No. 2 against Northern Mindanao and Eastern Visayas, respectively, at presstime while NCR was set to face SL late Tuesday in the second day of the finals backed by Asics, Mikasa and My Phone.

Meanwhile, the race to the semifinals heats up today with Western Visayas battling Southern Mindanao at 3 p.m.; NCR facing Central Visayas at 4 p.m.; Northern Luzon colliding with Eastern Visayas at 5 p.m.; and Northern Mindanao and Central Visayas colliding at 6 p.m.

The top two teams in each group after the single round elims advance to the crossover semifinals set at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. tomorrow with the finals slated at 3 p.m., according to the organizing Metro Sports headed by Freddie Infante with Johanz Buenvenida as tournament director.

Southern Mindanao is composed of the Davao City National High School squad, Eastern Visayas is made up of the Leyte National High School standouts; while Northern Luzon is represented by the Angeles University Foundation, all in Pool A.