Seemingly on cruise mode, former champions Madras Engineer Group and Centre, for some strange reason, relaxed their grip on the proceedings. Given a look-in, BSNL nearly made the Sappers pay for it in the State 'A' Division volleyball league here.

Fortunately for MEG, their rivals ran out of steam in the decider. Veteran Premjith, who ran the BSNL defence ragged in the first two sets, applied the finishing touches in the final set. Riding on his show, MEG notched up a 25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 24-26, 15-11 win in a late night encounter at the Lal Bahadur Shastri grounds on Monday.

The Sappers' 3-2 win was their fifth in as many matches in the 11-team league. With the way they began, it looked MEG were on course for a straight sets victory. With setter Surendra in total control and Premjith making winners at will, MEG won the first two sets in a jiffy.

Raghu, who replaced setter Kantha in the third, flummoxed the rival blockers with his setting. Attacker Ravi Kumar and Anil Bernard suddenly began to pepper MEG with a barrage of winners. Soon, it was MEG who were forced to play catch up. BSNL took the next two sets to raise visions of an upset. Unfortunately, BSNL could not sustain that performance in the fifth set to let MEG off the hook.

BEL down BSNL

Monday night's performance seemed to have taken a toll on them as BSNL surrendered meekly to BEL on Tuesday evening. More or less out of the reckoning for a place in the knockout semifinals, BEL carried far too many guns for BSNL, winning 25-22, 26-24, 25-14.

Results: SAI bt JSW 25-19, 26-28, 25-18, 25-13; MEG bt BSNL 25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 24-26, 15-11; KSP bt Sports Hostel 25-22, 25-15, 19-25, 25-13; BEL bt BSNL 25-22, 26-24, 25-14; SAI bt Sports Hostel 17-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-19.