By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Negros Occidental secondary boys’ volleyball team ruled the 2023 WVRAA Meet after a 28-26, 25-19, 25-20 sweep of Iloilo at the Malinao Elementary School Covered Court in Aklan province over the weekend.

Julio Miguel Yu spearheaded the offense for the Living Stones International School-represented Negros Occidental, while team captain Eljohn Dado and setter Michael Mantahinay also had their contributions in the win.

After the opening set, the Negrenses managed to have a strong start in the second and third sets before preventing the endgame uprising of the Iloilo team to emerge as the champion.

The Ralph Savellano-mentored Negros Occidental swept all their elimination round matches before they scored a straight set victory over the Guimaras team in the semifinals round.

Also part of the Negros Occidental team were Chrisron Chua, Rolf Michael de Asis, Harvey Suarez, John Paul Bautista, Ike Julaton, Sherwin Villegas, Zach Malide, Edward Penetrante, and Woj Dearu Lumawag.

“Miguel was unstoppable on offense while Michael was excellent with his setting,” Savellano said.

“But overall, all of my players made their contributions for this championship,” he added.

The Negros Occidental secondary boys’ volleyball team will now advance to the pre-Palarong Pambansa tournament against the qualifiers from Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula.

The Top 2 finishers in the said cluster meeting tentatively scheduled for July will then advance to the 2023 Palarong Pambansa proper, which is slated in Marikina City from July 29 to August 5, 2023.

In the elementary boys’ volleyball event, Team Iloilo hacked out a 25-15, 36-34 straight set romp over Negros Occidental, represented by Sagay City, to clinch the gold medal at Aklan Catholic College.

In futsal, Negros Occidental secondary girls’ team prevailed over Team Iloilo in the championship