SIPALAY CITY – Reigning UAAP champion University of Santo Tomas, bannered by Sofiah Pagara and Khy Progella, upended National University's Honey Grace Cordero and Kat Epa, 16-21, 21-15, 15-9, in the Beach Volleyball Republic on Tour Sipalay City leg Saturday at the Poblacion Beach.
Playing with a sense of urgency to avoid getting into the semifinal the hard way, Pagara and Progella played cool and calculated on offense and defense that gave the Tiger Sands their second straight victory in an intense battle between the UAAP's most successful programs.
Pagara and Progella displayed tremendous composure in the next two sets after yielding the opener to the Lady Bulldogs pair of Cordero, who won here last year with Roma Joy Doromal, and Epa.
UST opened its campaign with a 21-16, 21-7 sweep over Negros' Bea Tan and Bianca Lizares.
The finest Negrense beach volleyball athletes showed up in front of their provincemates in the tour's second visit to Sipalay.
Tan and Lizares, paired for the first time ever, failed to advance in the next round, but the comely duo gave UNO-R's Edrilyn Carbajosa and Kyla Gallego everything to handle before dropping a 19-21, 22-20, 9-15 decision.
Then there's Cordero, who led NU in a 21-15, 20-22, 16-14 win over UNO-R in the opening match of the event supported by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), SunPlay (official sunscreen partner), Smart, PLDT Home, Pepsi and Solasta Jewelry Shop.
Of course, the four Sipalay teams who despite missing the chance of reaching the next phase were able to compete against the beach volleyball's finest.
National team mainstay Ranran Abdilla, who emerged triumphant in this laid-back city with Rancel Varga last year, and AJ Pareja lost in the first set before the Alas A pair won the next two to beat Cebu's Samlet Booc and Micael Marabe, 26-28, 21-17, 15-0.
Abdilla and Pareja later logged their second straight win at the expense of Andre Espejo and Cris Hernandez, 21-19, 21-19, ending La Salle's two-match winning streak to reach the semifinal.
Pontevedra also advanced in the women's semis as Erjane Magdato and Perper Cosas defeated Far Eastern University's Melody Pons and Floriza Anne Papa, 21-15, 21-13, and Strong Group Athletics' Gen Eslapor and Euri Eslapor, 21-10, 21-11.
The New South Wales Phoenix pair of Jett Rocker-Graham and Killian Donovan, who finished fourth in last month's Asian U19 Beach Volleyball Championships in Roi-Et, Thailand also gained qualification in the top four in the men's division.
The Aussies turned back the Alas B tandem of Varga and Lerrie Francisco, 21-18, 21-16, and UST's Aldwin Gupiteo and Dominique Gabito, 21-18, 21-18.
Action resumes Sunday morning to determine the two other semifinalists in the women's and men's divisions.
In a couple of do-or-die women's matches, FEU (1-1) will take on SGA (1-1), while NU (2-1) plays UNO-R (2-1).
In the men's side, La Salle and Cebu, sporting similar 2-1 records, try to avoid elimination, while Alas B and UST, holding identical 1-1 slates, duke it out for a place in the semifinal.
The semifinal and the medal matches will be played in the afternoon.
Aside from the matches, there will be the BVR Sandroots program at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The games will be available live on beachvolleyballrepublic.ph website.
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