Hope, San Agustin dispute GVL crown

HOPE Christian High School and Colegio San Agustin scored straight-set victories to seal a showdown for the Shakey’s Girls’ Volleyball League NCR leg crown at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

With Desiree Cheng, Bel Molde and Chester Ong on the firing end, the defending champion Hope Christian fashioned out a 25-21, 25-12 win over Angelicum College while CSA leaned on the troika of Ana Gopico, Samantha Torres and Julia Morado to frustrate Miriam College, 25-14, 21-18.

The Hope tossers had to dig deeper into their vast arsenal to thwart the Angelicum ladies’ spirited stand in the opening set before the former settled down to complete the straight-set win.

In contrast, CSA imposed its will early and sustained its form to take the fight out of Miriam and gain a crack at the coveted crown in the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza and organized by Metro Sports.

Hope and CSA were disputing the crown and the lone berth in the Tournament of Champions at press time.

Angelicum later outlasted Miriam, 25-22, 25-15, 25-12, to clinch third place honors in the event backed by Toby’s Sports, Mikasa, Tune Hotels, Asics and Volley Prep.

The NCR leg winner will be joined by the other victors in various regional tournaments with Southern Luzon champion De La Salle-Lipa and Western Visayas leg titlist Central Philippine University in the T-of-C slated Jan. 22 to 26.