MANILA – Bacolod Tay Tung High School clinched the first semifinals seat in the Rebisco Volleyball League National Championship after a sweep of its group stage matches.
The Western Visayas representative recorded its fifth win Thursday as it banked on two consecutive errors by the also-ran Z-Air Maori of New Zealand before escaping with a 25-20, 23-25, 25-23 victory.
Unlike in its previous matches, Tay Tung was a picture of inconsistency against the late-blooming Z-Air Maori before getting the much-needed break on two attack errors by the Kiwis to break the 23-all score in the third set.
If not for the two consecutive errors, it could have been the second straight win of the Z-Air Maori after dropping all of its first three games, which thereby booted them out of the semifinals contention.
The semifinal round was set Friday where Tay Tung will face either Aloha Region Juniors of Hawaii or Kings’ Montessori School. The final round and the battle for third place were scheduled later in the day.
Tay Tung made its fourth win when it handed Holy Rosary College a 25-13, 25-19 straight set romp Wednesday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Bacolod City native Joan Marie Monares was hailed as the Best Player of the match after topping the scoring for Tay Tung with 7 points, on four service aces and three blocks.
After a seesaw battle early in the opening set, Tay Tung slowly created distance from Holy Rosary with conversions from Monares, Erika Jin Deloria and Shane Carmona.
Holy Rosary kept the match close in the second period and was down by just 4 at 15-19 but Tay Tung came up with timely hits from Monares and Carmona to complete the straight-set victory./PN
