INQUIRER Sports

The battle lines have been drawn and the war for the slots to the finals rages today as the semifinals of the 2009 Governor Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup kicks off at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue City.

The cast for the Final Four of the men’s division in the provincial cluster was finalized yesterday with Liloan and Minglanilla emerging as the top seeds in their respective brackets.

Liloan, the powerhouse squad of bracket A that boasts of such big names in the local volleyball circuit, finished the quarterfinal round with an immaculate 5-0 (win-loss) record, after they handled Moalboal, 25-9, 25-10. Moalboal ended up as the second seed as they wound up with a 4-1 record.

Not to be outdone, Minglanilla also finished off their assignments in the quarterfinal round in style as they eked past Catmon, 26-24, 25-21, to finish with a 5-0 record over in bracket B.

The second seed in this particular bracket went to Compostela, which finished with a 4-1 record after defeating Catmon and then,Sta. Fe, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21.

The semifinal pairings in the men’s provincial competition will see Liloan taking on Compostela and Minglanilla facing Moalboal.

The distaff side will feature defending champions Catmon facing off against Sta. Fe while Liloan battles Minglanilla.

The city cluster semifinals is also expected to be a slam-bang affair with the men’s side pitting Talisay against Carcar and Mandaue against Toledo. The women’s side will have Mandaue duking it out against Carcar and Talisay squaring off against Danao.

The winners of these semifinal games will advance to the championship games on Sunday.