Shakey’s V-League qualifying begins

THE best girls’ high school volleyball teams in Cebu battle it out for the right to represent the region as the Cebu qualifiers of the Shakey’s Girls V-League starts today at the Aznar Coliseum.

Leading the roster of squads competing in this tournament is the reigning champion, Southwestern University, who is aiming to make it back-to-back after ruling over this competition last year and making it all the way to the championship game of the national finals before succumbing to the mighty Hope Christian School.

SWU is also raring to snatch this crown after claiming the title in the Cesafi a few weeks ago. But the road to the top may prove more bumpy this time as a host of other squads are expected to present roadblocks for SWU in the face of Cesafi runners-up, University of San Carlos, former champions Pajo National High School, the University of San Jose-Recoletos, St. Theresa’s College, the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation, Mandaue National Comprehensive High School, PAREF-Southcrest, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and Sacred Heart School-Hijas de Jesus.

According to tournament organizer Jordan Paca, the teams will be divided into two brackets and will play a single round-robin in each division.

The top two finishers in each bracket will advance to the crossover semis with the winners there advancing to the winner-take-all championship match. The champion will earn the right to compete in the Tournament of Champions slated for January of next year. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio