LINGAYEN — Shaira Gonzales completed her triumphant return in the 2010 Petron Ladies' Beach Volleyball Tournament Saturday here.

The 21-year-old Gonzales and her Far Eastern University teammate Shedd de la Peña bounced back from an error-prone second set to post a 22-20, 11-21, 15-4 upset win over defending champion Jennifer Manzano and De La Salle University-Dasmariñas schoolmate Satchel Senupe to claim the circuit's third leg honors.

The win, which gave Gonzales a second crown after first winning a title in a collegiate tournament two years ago with Wendy Semana, also rewarded her and De la Pena a slot to the Petron Battle of Champions to be held this October in Puerto Princesa City.

The duo reached the finals after scoring a close 23-21 triumph over Ateneo spikers Sharah So and Khryzette Onishi in the crossover semifinals of this two-day spikefest supported by Speedo, Mikasa, the Sports Development Program of Pangasinan, Fern-Slim, Coca Cola, Victory Liner, Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil (second district) and Petron.

Manzano, who is from Bgy. Bolangobong in Lingayen and Senupe banked on their familiarity of the conditions of the Lingayen beach front to frustate FEU rookies Janine Penaranda and Loryvel Faytaren with a 21-17 beating and arrange a championship clash with Gonzales and De la Pena.

Gonzales kept Manzano, who is last year’s third leg champion and overall titlist, and Senupe at bay in the third set with a pair of service winners, touching off a 6-1 run that gave them an 11-3 advantage.

Gonzales, who stuck to the left corner for most of the third set to protect her turf, enabling De la Pena to protect the frontline more effectively.

Her title conquest with De la Pena inspired Gonzales not to retire from the sport and rejoin competitions again on the encouragement of her coaches.

Gonzales, a business management senior, and De la Pena took first set after they fought their way out of a 15-19 deficit.