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efending champions Jakarta Sananta men's volleyball team will go on to face Surabaya Samator in the Sampoerna Hijau Proliga Volley final, after defeating Palembang Bank Sumsel on Friday.

Sananta crushed Bank Sumsel in a tension-filled three sets, 25-20, 25-22, 25-17, at the proliga semifinal in Sentul, West Java.

For the first two sets, the competition was fierce as both teams snatched points in turns.

But then, in the third set Sumsel could not keep up the pace and Sananta kept scoring.

"Both teams are skillful, but mental *endurance* was the number one factor determining our win," Sananta's assistant coach, Benny Martarius, told a media conference after the match.

Sumsel coach Gugi Gustaman congratulated Sananta over the win, saying, "Benny's right, mental endurance is urgently needed in semifinals".

"Our handling was easy to predict ... and that took its toll on our players *mentally*," Gugi said.

When asked about Sananta's preparations for the Sunday final, Benny said his team would not spend too much time doing physical drills.

"We want our players to be relaxed before the upcoming final."

"We realized that we had a bumpy start in this year's *proliga'," Benny added.

"With the minimum number of players we have right now, our biggest motivation is from the team's togetherness and our supporters," he said.

Two of the team's players are currently out with injuries.

The semifinal match between two-time proliga winners Sura-baya Samator and Bantul Yuso Gunadarma resulted in a three straight sets victory for Samator, scoring 25-21, 25-15, 25-16 and sending Samator to meet Sananta in the final.

Bantul Yuso will face Sumsel to fight for the third place.

The Friday event also featured a semifinal between Jakarta BNI Taplus women's volleyball team (which won the 2005 proliga) and defending champions Surabaya Bank Jatim.