By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts, representing Western Visayas, made its way to the semifinals of the 2022 Rebisco Volleyball League National Finals after beating all their opponents in the group stage.
The Thunderbolts completed a four-game sweep of their group following a 25-14, 25-18 straight set romp over Central Visayas champion University of Bohol (UB) at the Nagano Gymnasium in Nueva Ecija’s San Leonardo town on Monday, December 12.
Dona Mae De Leon, Alex Montoro and Ana Hermosura made their presence felt for the Thunderbolts, which aimed to improve on their fourth-place finish during the 2019 edition of the tournament.
However, the Ian Macariola and Roberto Calamba, Jr.-mentored Thunderbolts will have a tough task in the semifinals round today, as they will face Nazareth School of National University (NU) Lady Bullpups.
The Lady Bullpups, representing the National Capital Region in the tournament, fell to second place after suffering a stinging defeat to California Precision Sports on Monday.
But the Western Visayas representatives will have all the momentum going into the Final Four match against the Lady Bullpups following their lopsided wins over their opponents in the group stage.
Prior to their two-set win over UB, the Thunderbolts edged Bicol champion Naga College Foundation (25-27, 25-18, 25-16), Eastern Visayas champion Leyte National High School (25-20, 25-16) and Northern Luzon champion Juan R. Liwag National High School (25-10, 25-20).
“So far, so good for our players, but we know that the real challenge is just ahead of us. NU is definitely one of the powerhouse teams here, so we have to prepare for them,” Calamba said.
“But the coaches believe in the capability of our players as this is the best Bacolod Tay Tung team assembled for this competition. We just have to stay hungry to reach our goal,” he added.
This was the third straight time that the Thunderbolts represented Region 6 in the Rebisco Volleyball League National Finals following their stints in 2018 (bronze medal) and 2019 (fourth place)./ASC, WDJ