UNIVERSITY of the East and National University Nazareth School booked the first two Final Four berths after sweeping separate foes in the UAAP high school boys volleyball tournament yesterday at the AdU Gym.

The Junior Warriors made short work of La Salle-Zobel, 25-12, 25-17, 25-10, while the Bullpups dispatched UP Integrated School, 25-8, 25-14, 25-11.

UE solidified its hold of top spot with a 10-1 card, while NUNS improved to 9-2 in second place.

“Yung confidence nung mga bata sa paglalaro, bumalik na. And ‘yung mga other players ko, nung training pa lang sinabi ko na mag-start sila. Yun naman din ‘yung strategy ko na bigyan sila ng confidence para just in case magamit ko sila, hindi na nila first time,” Junior Warriors coach Raffy Mosuela said.

Defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman needed only 46 minutes to beat Ateneo, 25-1, 25-8, 25-5, to raise its record to 8-3 at No. 3.

University of Santo Tomas rallied from a set down to hack out a 20-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-18 victory over Adamson.

The Junior Golden Spikers chalked up their seventh win in 11 matches to open a two-game cushion over the Baby Falcons, who dropped to 5-6, in the race for the last Final Four slot.

“I have to give it to the boys, ginusto talaga nilang manalo,” said UST assistant coach John Abella. “Tulad nga sinabi ko sa pep talk kagabi, ‘If you want to make the Final Four, we have to take this win.’ It was a good thing that they responded.”

The loss pushed the Junior Green Spikers on the brink of elimination with a 4-7 slate.

The Junior Fighting Maroons and the Blue Eagles, meanwhile, slipped to 1-10 and 0-11, respectively.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Theodore P. Jurado