The high school belles of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) got off to a rocky start in the Shakey’s Girls’ Volleyball League Season 13 national finals after they got edged out by De La Salle-Lipa in a three-set thriller, 16-25, 26-24, 21-25, in Pool B on Monday at the Astrodome in Pasay City.
With the loss, the Central Visayas representatives face an uphill battle as they take on the mighty National University (NU), the National Capital Region titleholder, today at 4 p.m.
The top two teams in each group after the single-round eliminations advance to the crossover semifinals set at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. tomorrow with the finals slated at 3 p.m.
NU is ahead of the pack after it dismantled Northern Mindanao representatives Angelicum Learning Center in straight sets, 25-15, 25-20, in Pool B of the nationwide competition that features the best girls high school teams from across the land.
Defending champion Western Visayas, bannered by Central Philippines University (CPU), bested Northern Luzon’s Angeles University Foundation, 22-25, 25-9, 25-23, in Pool A of the event,
La Salle-Lipa was gunning for its second win against Eastern Visayas rulers, Leyte National High School while CPU was taking on Davao City National High School as of press time.