THE belles of Hope Christian School retained their title in the NCR leg but went through the wringer to do so as they had to come from behind in their two matches at the close of the NCR eliminations of the Shakey’s Girls Volley League held over the weekend at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The tossers of HCS took the crown after defeating the National University but had to do it in five gruelling sets.
Desiree Cheng led the offensive onslaught in order to overcome a two-set deficit and endure an extended third set duel before outlasting the tall Alyja Daphne Santiago and the NU tossers in the fifth and come away with a thrilling 11-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-15, 15-9 victory.
The win clinched them a berth in Tournament of Champions slated March 21 to 24 in Davao City.
Hope earlier fought back from a set down to repulse Colegio San Agustin, 22-25, 25-18, 25-13, in the semis to set up the title clash with NU, which also needed a third set to hold off Angelicum College, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio