Bacolod Tay Tung, National U-Nazareth make Final 4

MANILA, Philippines — Bacolod Tay Tung High School and National U-Nazareth School extended their perfect runs with hard-earned victories against gritty counterparts to barge into the Final 4 of the 2023 Shakey’s Girls Volleyball Invitational League (GVIL) yesterday at the San Andres Gym in Manila.

Bacolod needed everything it got to tame University of Santo Tomas, 25-22, 25-23, as NUNS hacked out a 25-15, 25-18 win over Far Eastern U-Diliman in the first set of the quarterfinal pairings.

Both squads were dominant in the sweeps of their respective groups but met strong resistance in the knockout playoffs of the 16-team GVIL backed by Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, Potato Corner, Peri-Peri and R&B Tea with the City of Manila as government cooperation partner.

The Bacolod spikers encountered the bigger challenge as they trailed in both sets against the raging Junior Golden Tigresses before rallying behind Alexia Marie Montoro’s 11 points.

Earlier, Yesha Noceja and Celine Marsh hammered 12 and 10 points, respectively, as the Lady Bullpups shrugged off a shaky start to live up to expectations so far as the team to beat in the tourney.

Later, Pool C leader California Academy and Pool D pacer Naga College Foundation carved out contrasting wins to also make the semis.

Casiey Dongallo and Jelaica Gajero teamed up anew in posting 12 and 10 markers, respectively, as California Academy stretched its unbeaten campaign with a 25-17, 25-16 win over Adamson.

Naga overcame a forgettable start to pull off a 14-25, 25-17, 25-17 win over La Salle Lipa.