Nazareth School of National U and La Salle-Lipa pulled through with a pair of lopsided victories over their fellow fancied rivals to clinch the top seeding at the close of the 18-and-under Rebisco Volleyball League elimination round at Sta. Rosa Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Laguna last Friday.
The Nazareth girls stepped up their title drive with a 25-15, 25-23 triumph over the Hope Christian High School side in Pool A while the Batangas-based La Salle squad stopped the host Holy Rosary College team, 25-14, 25-18, in Pool B.
Nazareth and La Salle-Lipa thus finished the elimination round with 5-0 cards while Hope and Holy Rosary settled for No. 2 with 4-1 records.
The victories also set up Nazareth against Holy Rosary and La Salle-Lipa versus Hope in a pair of explosive crossover semifinal matches.
The winners will dispute the crown at 5 p.m. Sunday.
In other results, Bacolod Tay Tung High School routed Angelicum Learning Center of Cagayan de Oro, 25-16, 25-17, to finish third in Pool B with a 3-2 slate while University of San Jose-Recoletos posted its second straight win after three losses, repulsing FEU-Diliman, 22-25, 25-20, 25-15. FEU wound up with a 1-4 slate while Angelicum dropped all its five matches.
University of Mindanao-Tagum ended up third in Pool A with a 3-2 record, including a 25-16, 25-19 triumph over Koronadal High.