An Ateneo de Cebu player hammers a spike off a fake against Don Bosco during their game in the Saint Ignatius Invitational Volleyball Tournament at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu gym. Ateneo wins the game to rule Group C and advance to the semifinal round.
.(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
After 16 grueling games in an energy-sapping elimination round, four teams managed to remain standing in the 8th St. Ignatius Volleyball Cup.
The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC)-A, Abellana National School (ANS), Saint Cecilia’s College (SCC) and the National Yilan-Senior High School (NY-SHS) of Taiwan will battle it out in today’s semifinal round at the Lux Oriens Gym of SHS-AdC in Brgy. Canduman, Mandaue.
In yesterday’s action, reigning champions SHS-AdC Magis Eagles-A sent a stern message of their title-retention aspirations as they crushed SCC, 25-22, 25-22; Saint Louis College-Cebu 25-23, 15-25, 25-12 and the Don Bosco Technology Center, 25-13, 23-25, 25-19 before beating the Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy via default to top Group A with a clean 4-0 (win-loss) card.
The Magis Eagles -A will go up against last year’s runner up ANS in the semifinals.
ANS made it through the penultimate round after finishing second in Group B with a 2-1 record beating the SHS-AdC Magis Eagles-B, 25-18, 25-12 and the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion (CIC), 25-13, 25-22 after dropping their first assignment against National Yilan-Senior High School (NY-SHS).
“Last year we had a championship fight with Abellana, although we won, looking at the Abellana team today, they are very strong so we are hoping that the players can relax well tonight so they can play well tomorrow (today),” said SHS-AdC head coach Emmanuel Rivera.
Not to be outdone was the visiting NY-SHS who ruled Group B after stumping ANS, 25-19, 25-14; SHS-AdC Magis Eagles-B, 25-16, 25-22 and CIC, 25-18, 19-25, 25-11 for a leading 3-0 slate.
NY-SHS hopes to sustain their momentum as they take on SCC in the semifinals. SCC clinched a semis berth after ending up in second spot in Group A with a 3-1 card.
“Our goal is to win the championship once we come back to Taiwan,” NY-SHS mentor Ryan Lui shared.
Semifinal games will kick off at 8 a.m. today while the battle-for-third and the championship games will follow shortly.