Moradabad: Uttarakhand and Services men's team today registered victories in their respective semifinals to advance to the finals of the 62nd Senior Nationals Volleyball Championship here.
Uttarakhand mauled defending champions Kerala 3-0 in the semi-final, while Tamil Nadu defeated Services 3-1 in another match. For Uttarakhand, Y D Subba Rao towered above the rest as he roofed the net by massive blocks. Mandeep and Lalit smashed powerfully to help Uttarakhand beat Kerala 25-22, 25-23, 25-21.
In the other semifinal, Services grabbed the first set as Pankaj and Sarath where exceptional in attacking but Tamil Nadu fought back is second set with Naveen and Vaisnav displaying terrific spikes and blocks.
In the third set, Services developed early lead by hard smashing from Sarth and Pankaj where as Shijas gave finishing kills. However, Tamil Nadu clawed back with the help of Vaishnav's blocking and Naveen's attack to eventually finish with a scoreline of 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17.
In the women's category, Holders Railways hammered Haryana 3-0 to reach the finals. Second semifinal between Tamil Nadu and Kerala is yet to be played.
