Philippine Volleyball Club’s League Championship

Sunday evening on May 5th was anything but quiet at Airport Park, as teams, fans, friends, and families gathered to watch the championship games of the Philippine Volleyball Club Indoor League. The fans took their seats in great anticipation of the games to come, as many of the teams were defending their titles from the previous season. On the women’s court they had the Clyde Built Construction Lady Knights defending their title against the Seven Mile Dental Clinic, and on Coed court they had Mainstay Sailing and Peerless B’s & Bro’s competing for the gold. The Men’s division was scheduled to follow with the defending champions, The Blue Iguanas, taking on Surebuilt.

The competition got underway with the Seven Mile Beach Dental clinic Team quickly pulling ahead and giving the Lady Knights a run for their money. Chante Smith had several kills that aided SMBDC to take the first set 25-20. The Lady Knights’ Coach, Richard Campbell, attempted to inspire his team by reminding of their four consecutive championships leading up to this game. Try as they might the Knights could not overcome the SMBDC team’s strong attack. Victory is sweet, but it was that much sweeter for SMBDC as they defeated the defending champs in two straight sets, winning the second set 25-21.

The competition continued on the adjacent court with the Coed division. Finishing the regular season in 2nd place Mainstay Sailing easily secured their spot in the Coed Division finals. It was anything but smooth sailing for Peerless B’s & Bro’s, who had to rise up from 4th place in order to earn their spot in the championship game. Mainstay Sailing was fairly confident going into the first set and they easily defeated their opponents 25-15. They rode the momentum from the first into the second claiming the title of champions with 25-10 victory.

With the handshakes, well wishes, and line up checks complete the men took to the court for what was bound to be a long winded match. The Blue Iguanas had a lot riding on this game, and the pressure clearly got to them as they began trailing Surebuilt early in the first set. Despite Heron Espinoza’s incredible sets and Keeble Knight’s 18 attacks, the Blue Iguanas failed to bridge the gap and lost 25-20. The Blue Iguanas were not going down without a fight, so they revised their plan of attack and came out swinging in the second set. Surebuilt held their own in the second set, battling their opponents point for point. The surprise attacks from James Zabala and Charlie Ma were essential in narrowly clinching the lead 25-23, as they each earned 8 points for the Blue Iguanas. The third set consisted of long rallies, and the hotly contested game made it next to impossible for either team to maintain a secure lead. In the end the Blue Iguanas claimed their victory by a small margin as they won by a single point due to the cap at 17.