THE TOP three women teams from Luzon hurdled their respective rivals with nary a trouble yesterday to sail into the exciting Boracay stage of the 9th Nestea Beach Volley tournament yesterday.
Reigning NCAA champion Philippine Christian University, the No.1 team after the two–day elimination round, led the charge of the favorites by dumping No. 8 Letran, 21–17, before a big Sunday crowd at the La Salle Greenhills.
Also advancing were No. 2 Far Eastern U, which defeated No. 7 Adamson, 21-14; No. 3 St. Benilde, which stunned sister-team and No. 6 La Salle, 22-20; and No. 5 University of Baguio, which ousted No. 4 Ateneo, 21-19.
With their victories, these four teams earned tickets to the semis and finals scheduled in the tropical paradise of Boracay on May 5 to 7.
Awaiting the champions are
R100,000 in cash and R50,000 in sports equipment for the schools they represent.
The men’s quarterfinal round was being played as of presstime yesterday with eight of the 16 entries seeing action.
Being pitted against each other were No. 1 St. Benilde vs No. 8 Lyceum, No. 2 Adamson vs No. 7 La Salle, No. 3 FEU vs No. 6 UP Los Baños and No. 4 PATTS Aeronautical School vs No. 5 St. Francis of Assisi.
The reigning champion in the men’s division is San Jose Recoletos while the women’s reigning titlist is Southwestern University – both from the Visayas.
The tournament takes a break today and resumes tomorrow with the Visayas elims. A dozen teams each from the men’s and women’s divisions will see action for two days with the top four also advancing to Boracay.
The Mindanao elims will be staged Wednesday also at La Salle Greenhills. Since there are only eight teams from each group, the top four after the elims will make it outright to the semis and finals in Boracay.
This year’s sponsors are Speedo, Mikasa, Cebu Pacific, Hey Jude Resorts, La Salle Greenhills, Villa de Oro, Coppertone, Boracay Regency, Power Plant Mall, National Sports Grill and Click the City.com.
