Unbeaten Letran and UP Volleyball Club eked out wins against separate rivals to complete the quarterfinal cast in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Challenge Cup women’s division on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

The Lady Knights cruised past the University of Batangas, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23 as the UP Volleyball Club edged out Parañaque City, 25-18, 25-10, 26-28, 25-17 in the final elimination-round playdate.

Letran thus completed a 3-0 sweep of Pool C while the UP Volleyball Club caught the last bus at second place with a 2-1 record in Pool A entering the knockout rounds of the tourney supported by the Philippine Sports Commission headed by chairman Richard Bachmann, PLDT, Rebisco, Akari, Foton and CBPI.

The Lady Knights, under the tutelage of new mentor and former Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro – a Letranite himself – rode on the previous wins against the Rizal Technological University-Basilan, 25-22, 25-11, 22-25, 25-13, and Arellano, 25-21, 25-10, 25-20, to score another sweep of UB.

Tied with Parañaque City at 1-1 prior to the match, the UP Volleyball Club notched the big win in the virtual knockout duel to secure second place in Pool A after its erstwhile victory against the Volida Volleyball Club, 25-11, 25-15, 25-16.

NCAA champion College of St. Benilde topped Pool A with a 3-0 card while the Philippine Air Force (3-0) from Pool B and University of the Philippines (3-0) from Pool D are the top-ranked squads of their groups heading into the knockout quarterfinals.

Also in are second-seeds Jose Rizal U (2-1) of Pool B, Arellano (2-1) of Pool C, and San Beda (2-1) of Pool D in the 16-team women’s division of the Challenge Cup by the PNVF headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.

Cignal (4-0) of Pool A, National U (4-0) of Pool B (4-0), PGJC Navy (Pool C) and University of Santo Tomas (3-0) of Pool D led the cast in the 20-team men’s division.

Savouge Aesthetics (2-1) of Pool A, VNS Asereht (3-1) of Pool B and Jose Rizal U (3-1) of Pool C are also in the fray with still one slot in Pool D up for grabs among Emilio Aguinaldo College, (2-2), Iloilo (2-1), and Sta. Rosa (1-2) in the final preliminary matches as of press time.