The Lagos State volleyball team on Friday spanked their Kwara State counterparts 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-21) to berth in the semi-finals of the ongoing Chief Owolabi Martins Volleyball Championships. Lagos has remained undefeated to claimed three straight games to clinch the top spot in Group A and advance to the semi-finals of the competition holding at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

Their Coach, Suraj Onatuga, told the News Agency of Nigeria after their victory that the team was good enough to advance to the final and win the male category of the championships. Onatuga said: "We are a strong team and have worked hard to reach the semi-finals where we will meet other tough opponents.

"We are confident of doing well at the end as we continue to prepare for the National Sports Festival." Onatuga said the competition was the best thing for the sports and with sponsors backing the championships, volleyball players are positioned to develop their skills.

He said: "We are happy for the opportunity to showcase our talents as players abound that can lift the nation high in the sport, but for lack of sponsors the game suffers. "We hope this championship can also be taken to secondary and tertiary institutions because we have to get stakeholders to help to revive the sport at the grassroots."

Meanwhile, Lagos State will play Ondo State, who were second runners-up in Group B behind Nigeria Police Force 1 that are squared with Legacy Club in the other semi-final pairing. Similarly, in the female category, Lagos Team A outclassed Lagos Team B 2-0 (25-16, 25-22) and remained the dominant force, claiming all the five games played so far in the competition.

Ene Jalmet, the Lagos Team A Captain, told NAN that the team was poised to do well in the competition going by the quality of players in the team. Jalmet said: "We've done well and played together as team to claim our victories and with one game to go we are definitely the team to claim the first place in the female category.

"We have also used the competition to test our strength against other competitors as we prepare for the National Sports Festival later in the year." NAN reports that the championships, in which 15 teams are competing for honours, began on July 13 and will end on July 17. NAN.