Shakey’s girls volley kicks off 11th season

MANILA, Philippines - The Shakey’s Girls Volleyball League kicked off its 11th season last week with a total of 80 teams from the National Capital Region and other regions in the country vying for slots in the Tournament of Champions next year.

Angeles University Foundation nailed the first berth in the T-of-C when it topped the Central Luzon leg last week, repulsing Holy Angel University in five in Angeles City.

The AUF spikers recovered in time to hack out a 25-17, 25-19, 17-25, 18-25, 16-14 victory over the hard-fighting HAU side and lead the cast in the grand finale which will feature two foreign squads.

Western Visayas is currently holding its three-day regional elims in Iloilo City with Tacloban City hosting the third qualifier on Oct. 9-12 for Eastern Visayas.

The 10 top high school teams from each region are vying for berths in the T-of-C set Jan. 13-17, 2014 where Australia and New Zealand teams have been seeded. The foreign squads will be headed by coach Tomas Santamaria of the Australian Volleyball Association, according to the organizing Metro Sports president Freddie Infante.

“These two teams have the height advantage and experience in international play and are expected to provide a different of challenge for our local teams and at the same raise the level of play here,” said tournament director Johanz Buenvenida of Metro Sports.

The league, sponsored by Shakey’s and backed by Mikasa, Asics and Tune Hotel, serves as the feeder league to the Shakey’s V-League as part of the world’s leading pizza parlor’s long-term commitment to boost the sport and produce top-class players.

The rest of the regional elims sked: Central Visayas (Oct. 17-20 in Cebu), NCR (Oct. 27-Nov. 10 in Manila), Mindanao (Nov. 14-17 in Davao), Northern Luzon (Nov. 21-24 in Baguio) and Southern Luzon (Nov. 27-30 in Imus City).