Pleasantville, St Joseph’s on course to retain titles

PLEASANTVILLE AND St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph, are on course to retaining their respective Secondary Schools’ Volleyball League Boys and Girls Open Category titles when action served off at the National Cycling Velodrome last week.

On Friday, Pleasantville advanced to the boys final after battling past four schools in the round robin and semi-final stages. Competing out of Group B, the 2019 winners made light work of Iere High School (15-7, 15-5), Maple Leaf International (15-12, 15-6) and Arima Central (15-11, 15-4).

Pleasantville’s dominance propelled them into the semi-final round where they were made to work in the opening set against Naparima College, prevailing 17-15, before cruising to a 15-7 triumph in the second set and securing another title shot.

Also advancing to the final was St George’s College. Playing against one less team in their group, St George’s opened their account by producing a 15-10, 15-7 victory over International School of Port-of-Spain (ISPS). They followed up with another 2-0 win against ‘Naps’ and then sealed a spot in the final by trumping ISPS 15-7, 15-9. Pleasantville and St George’s go for the coveted schools’ crown at the same location on February 22. ISPS also squares off against Naparima in the third place playoff.

Additionally, in the girls equivalent on Thursday, defending champions St Joseph’s Convent (St Joseph), Iere High School, South East Port-of- Secondary (SEPoS) and ISPS all booked spots in Tuesday’s semi-final round after topping their respective round robin pools.

St Joseph’s earned a default win (15-0, 15-0) over St Augustine Girls’ High before battling from behind to beat SEPoS 12-15, 15-7, 15-12. They then trumped ASJA Girls’ 2-0 (15-9, 15-4) and ISPS 2-1 (15-8, 6-15, 15-13) sweeping Pool A and automatically qualifying for the semi-final round. Also advancing from this group were ISPS, who conquered ASJA 15-8, 15-3, SEPoS 15-12, 15-7 and St Augustine Girls’ High School 15-5, 15-8. In Pool B, Iere also progressed with an unbeaten record. The south school got past St George’s College 15-8, 15-13, Pleasantville Secondary 15-5, 15-9 and St Joseph’s Convent (Port of Spain) 15-13, 15-10.

The girls’ semi-finals will get going on Tuesday at the same venue and will see St Joseph’s Convent (St Joseph) up against SEPoS while Iere hope to maintain their good run of form against ISPS. Their finals is also expected to be held on February 22.