Mahardika Institute moves closer to Nestea beach volley finals berth

MANILA, Philippines – Mahardika Institute of Technology came out strong in the last two sets to down University of Mindanao Davao, 17-21, 21-13, 17-15, during Friday’s action in the 2009 Nestea Fit Beach Volley tournament Mindanao leg at the Tagum Beach Volley Drome in Tagum City. The duo of Mursaid Hadjirul and Mohammad Ali Maih regained their composure after a first set defeat to bag their third win in as many assignments to move one game away of earning a first ever trip to the Boracay national championships in May. Hadjirul actually broke the 15-all score with a service in the third set then sealed the win with a smash against the UMD pair of Paul John Saraga and Galileo Mascardo. “I told them to focus on the game if they want to reach the Boracay championships, "said MIT coach Johnny Lee. MIT reached the semis with their victory against UMD and can bag one of the three slots in the national championships if they enter the finals with a win on Saturday. Also aiming for the other semis berth is DMMA College of Southern Philippines (2-1) which was facing defending champion Capitol University as of this posting. Capitol bowed against Mindanao State University-Tawi Tawi, 16-21, 18-21, late Thursday but remained in contention after a 21-10, 21-14 triumph against Xavier University-Cagayan de Oro Friday morning, 21-10, 21-14. MSU-T was likewise targeting another final-four slot versus Holy Cross of Davao College as of this posting. In the women's side MSU-Tagum moved closer to another Boracay campaign with a 13-31, 24-22, 15-11 win against Jose Maria College. MSU-T now has a clean 2-0 slate. Likewise earning their second win are UMD, which posted a 21-16, 21-16 triumph against Holy Cross and Ateneo de Davao University which stopped Xavier, 21-9, 21-14. As of this posting, Ateneo was looking for their third win versus Holy Cross while defending women’s champion UM-Tagum (1-1) was trying to remain in contention against JMC. – GMANews.TV