Reigning champions Pleasantville Secondary, and St George's College will contest this year's final of the Boys' Open Division of the 2020 Secondary Schools Volleyball League Championship after advancing through the playoffs programme at the National Cycling Velodrome, Centre Court in Balmain, Couva on Friday.
When the seven-team two groups round-robin series began, Pleasantville and St George's College topped their respective Pool B and Pool A series with perfect records.
Playing in a four-team Pool B series, Pleasantville registered victories over Iere High School 2-0 (15-7, 15-5), Maple Leaf International 2-0 (15-12, 15-6) and Arima Central Secondary 2-0 (15-11, 15-4) for a perfect 3-0 record.
Maple Leaf International (2-1) and Iere High School (1-2) ended second and third respectively to qualify to the quarterfinals.
St George's College was as equally as impressive in Pool A with wins against Naparima College 2-0 (15-11, 15-13) and International School of Port-of-Spain (15-10, 15-7) for a perfect 2-0 record.
Naparima ended in the second spot in the pool courtesy their come-from-behind 2-1 (15-17, 15-13, 20-18) defeat of International School.
In the cross-over quarterfinals, International School repeated their North Zone finals win against Maple Leaf with a 2-0 (15-9, 15-10) victory to set up a semifinal against Pleasantville Secondary, while Naparima College battles St George's, in the other final-four clash after their 2-1 (15-13, 12-15, 16-14) defeat of Iere High in the other quarterfinal.
And in the semifinals, Pleasantville Secondary swept past overcame Naparima College 2-0 (17-15, 15-7) and St George's College swept past International School 2-0 (15-7, 15-9) to set up their finals' showdown on Saturday, February 22.
Semifinal losers, Naparima College and International School will also meet on February 22 for the bronze medal.
Last year, Pleasantville Secondary captured the boys Open Division title by beating International School 25-21, 27-25, and in the bronze medal clash, St George’s got the better of Arima Central.
The Marvin Beckles-coached Pleasantville Secondary also took home the Under-16 boys title as well, after beating Vishnu Boy's Hindu College, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12.
Vishnu had earlier outplayed St George’s College 25-21, 25-14 in the Under-14 gold medal encounter while in the bronze clash, St George’s rallied past Maple Leaf School, 9-15, 15-11, 15-13.
Friday's Results
Boys' Open Division
Court A
St George's College bt Naparima College 2-0 (15-11, 15-13)
St George's bt International School PoS 2-0 (15-10, 15-7)
Naparima College bt International School PoS 2-1 (15-17, 15-13, 20-18)
Court B
Pleasantville Sec. bt Iere High 2-0 (15-7, 15-5)
Iere High bt Arima Central Sec 2-0 (15-6, 15-11).
Maple Leaf International bt Iere High 2-1 (15-11, 12-15, 15-9)
Court C
Maple Leaf International bt Arima Central Sec. 2-0 (15-8, 15-6)
Pleasantville Sec. bt Maple Leaf International 2-0 (15-12, 15-6)
Pleasantville Sec. bt Arima Central 2-0 (15-11, 15-4)
Quarterfinals
3rd Group B (Maple Leaf International) bt 2nd Group A (International School PoS) 2-0 (15-9, 15-10)
3rd Group A (Naparima College) bt 2nd Group B (Iere High) 15-13, 12-15, 16-14
Semifinals
Pleasantville Sec (Group B winner) bt Naparima College 2-0 (17-15, 15-7)
St George's College (Group A winner) vs International School 2-0 (15-7, 15-9)
