National University survived a resilient College of St. Benilde side, 25-27, 29-27, 25-19, 16-25, 15-11, and completed the men’s semifinal cast in the Premier Volleyball League Collegiate Conference yesterday at The Arena in San Juan City.
Power-hitting Francis Saura produced 17 kills to lead the team with 20 points as the Bulldogs closed out the elims with a 4-3 card, tying University of Santo Tomas for third to fourth places.
NU, however, took the No. 3 seeding over UST due to a superior quotient.
It was the third straight semifinal appearance for the Bulldogs in the three-year-old league after finishing runners-up to the Ateneo Eagles in the first two editions of the tournament.
The feat also arranged the Bulldogs a best-of-three semis showdown with Far Eastern University, which earlier bowed to eliminated San Beda, 29-27, 15-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-7.
The Eagles, who swept the elims of the 8-team tournament, take on the Tigers in a similar best-of-three semis affair.
Despite the loss, the Tamaraws still finished at No. 2 with a 5-2 mark.
In women’s action, Far Eastern University recovered from a rough start to beat Lyceum, 18-25, 28-26, 25-15, 25-17, and march into the semifinals.
The Lady Tams finished Group A with 4-1 at second place, joining unbeaten National University in the next phase while eliminating Ateneo, which finished with a 3-2 mark.
Also in the semis were Adamson and Arellano University, which finished 1-2 in Group B.