State ‘A’ Division champions Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lost to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) 23-25, 28-26, 25-27, 25-22, 10-15 but emerged winners in the third phase of the Karnataka Volley League (KVL) at the Municipal grounds here on Thursday.
Even though they tasted defeat, BSNL claimed the winners’ title after they stretched the match to the deciding fifth set that fetched them one point and helped them end their campaign with 13 points from five matches.
Army Service Corps (ASC) rounded off their quota of matches with a 25-22, 25-18, 25-22 victory over DYSS which saw them take the second place with 12 points from five games.
LIC, on account of their five-set win over BSNL, came third with 11 points from five matches.
In the BSNL-LIC match, the former were heavy favourites to win the match comfortably but LIC began on an aggressive note. MN Vikram was in his elements in the first set, cracking some fine smashes to make life difficult for BSNL as LIC bagged the opener 25-23.
BSNL came fighting back with Karthik A powering away with his smashes and effective drop shots in a closely fought second set. LIC kept BSNL on their toes with scores level at 24-24 but the latter eventually prevailed 28-26.
LIC took a 2-1 lead by winning the third set before BSNL once again hit back to clinch the fourth. LIC got their act together in the fifth set to win 15-10 but BSNL had the last laugh as they clinched the third phase title.
Results: LIC bt BSNL 25-23, 26-28, 27-25, 22-25, 15-10; MEG bt KSP 25-20, 25-27, 25-21, 25-23; ASC bt DYSS 25-22, 25-18, 25-22