Ruthless Kerala crush Karnataka to enter quaterfinals; drop just 2 sets in 7 matches

Defending champions Kerala stormed into the men's quarterfinals of the 72nd Senior National Volleyball Championship in Varanasi on Thursday.

Kerala crushed Karnataka 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-18) to win their seventh game in a row. Captain Sethu T R led by example with ferocious spikes and deceptive dinks.

Coach Bijoy Babu's Kerala have dropped just two sets in the entire tournament, yet. Earlier in the day, Kerala drubbed Chhattisgarh 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) in the playoffs to set up the quarterfinal qualifier with Karnataka.

Late on Wednesday evening, the defending champions had crushed Jammu & Kashmir 3-0 to win all (five) of their games in Group E.

Kerala were ruthless against Karnataka. They led 20-9 in the first set and could even afford to get a bit lazy, allowing their neighbours to close in at 24-17.

The second set was evenly fought, with Karnataka refusing to yield. Setter Jithin N produced a delightful dink to put Kerala in front after the game was tied at 25-25. But Karnataka equalised again, and eventually, Erin Varghese stepped up to seal the set with a vicious serve.

Sethu was at his best in the third set, targeting empty spaces as Kerala refused to let Karnataka get their noses in front. John Joseph showed his versatility by fetching a point from a block immediately after winning one with a kill.

Kerala raced to a five-point lead (13-8), at which point the Karnataka shoulders dropped. Kerala were on song thereafter, stealing blocks at will and Sethu's stinging serves proved to be too hot for the opposition. At 17-10, an overzealous Sethu went long, but Kerala were in a joyous mood already and sealed the match with a block.