A public high school featuring players from the indigenous people from Talaingod, Davao del Norte will see action in the Rebisco Volleyball League (RVL) National Finals later this month.
Sto. Niño National High School is one of three teams from Mindanao to earn spots in the competition set for November 22-25 in Mandaluyong, along with Corpus Christi School and Notre Dame of Dadiangas University.
Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro City swept Bukidnon National High School, 25-21, 25-14, for the Northern Mindanao championship, while General Santos City’s Notre Dame of Dadiangas University overcame St. Alexius College, 25-18, 26-28, 25-23, for the Central Mindanao title.
Sto. Niño National High School, meanwhile, is representing Southern Mindanao for the second straight year after ruling their regional cluster. They initially topped the six-team pre-qualifying leg, before edging seven more squads in the regional finals.
Three of the team’s 12 players are from the Ata Manobo tribe.
They capped their campaign with a hard-fought 25-19, 22-25, 27-25 win against Ateneo de Davao in the title match last month at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex in Tagum City.
“They may be lacking really in height, grabe as in talagang ang laki ng difference, ang liliit talaga nila. But yung vertical jump nila tsaka yung cohesiveness as a team are something to be proud of,” said RVL tournament director Johanz Buenvenida, who witnessed the showdown between Sto. Niño and Ateneo de Davao.
Sto. Niño has almost two more months to prepare before the National Finals where it will try to surpass its seventh-place finish last year.
The three Mindanao teams join seven other squads in the National Finals, including Visayas regional champions Linao National High School (Eastern), University of San Jose Recoletos (Central), and RVL defending champion Bacolod Tay Tung (Western).
The representatives from Luzon are yet to be determined.
The National Finals preliminary and semifinal round matches will continue to follow best-of-three sets, while the bronze and gold-medal games will be played in best-of-five sets.
