PGJC-Navy, North Cotabato enter semis

MANILA, Philippines — Navy and North Cotabato arranged a semifinal clash after blanking their respective quarterfinal counterparts in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Champions League men’s tournament yesterday at the Philsports Arena.

The unbeaten Sea Lions swept Santa Rosa, 25-13, 25-16, 25-21, to crack the first semis berth before being chased by North Cotabato with its own 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 win over Army Taguig City.

Christian Marcelino fired 14 points to spearhead Navy with Greg Dolor and Joeven Dela Vega chipping in 13 each for the wards of coach Cecille Cruzada.

“So far, we are peaking,” said Cruzada as Navy looks on track for another deep run after a bronze-medal finish in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference.

“During training, we worked overtime for our service receive and they performed well. They were doing hard service, our first ball is okay and so they performed well.”

John Vic de Guzman (14), Jao Umandal (14) and Kim Malabunga (13) joined forces for North Cotabato, which vowed to give Navy a strong challenge for finals seat.

Meanwhile, the women’s semifinals of PNVF Champions League is slated today featuring Pool B winner CPS-Antipolo City against Pool A second placer Imus City and Pool A topnotcher Quezon City versus Pool B No. 2 UE Manila.