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TAGUM CITY—Capitol
University racked up two more victories to rule via a
sweep the
Mindanao leg of the 12th Nestea Beach Volleyball tournament Thursday at the Tagum
Beach Volleydrome in
Rotary
Park.
The
unrelenting duo of Kevin Escobal and John Michael
Vivares first outlasted the Holy Cross of Davao College
(HCDC) pair of Allen Jay Sales and Celboy Atendido,
21-16, 14-21, 15-13, in a thrilling semifinals match.
They then won by default over University of Mindanao
(UM)-Tagum’s Raquelito Tayabas and Lowell Fabian in the
finals.
A heavy
favorite to win the tournament after its astounding run
in the preliminaries, UM-Tagum was forced to surrender
the title-match without a fight as doctors barred
Tayabas from playing because of high fever.
But the
hometown crowd did not despair totally as the UM-Tagum
tandem of Mylin Que and Liezl Manatad trounced HCDC’s
Mykah Ramos and Aiza Armacion, 21-7, 21-7, in the finals
to reign supreme in the women’s side of the tournament
sponsored by Havaianas, Speedo, Mikasa, Penshoppe, Tagum
Beach Volleydrome at Rotary Park, University of St. La
Salle-Bacolod, Island Cove Resort Hotel and Leisure
Park, Crystal Sand Beach Resort, Le Soleil de Boracay
Hotel, La Carmela de Boracay Resort Hotel, D’Mall,
D’Boracay and Hey! Jude Hotel Resort.
The
biggest story, though, in the kick-off leg of this
year’s edition of the annual summer event was the
unceremonious exit of defending national champion
Mindanao State University (MSU)-Tawi-Tawi.
The
veteran-rookie tandem of brothers Yusop and Momoy
Abdulkarim succumbed to the more experienced Agusan
Institue of Technology (AIT) pair of Orpheus Cubillas
and Eduardo Gonzales, 21-19, 21-19, in the quarterfinals
to kiss their back-to-back bid goodbye.
“Disappointed,” said Yusop. “Although we did not expect
to win this leg because of the very short preparation we
had, we didn’t expect to get eliminated this early
either.”
“We were
hoping that we would be able to get past the
eliminations, use the next five weeks to prepare, and
we’ll have a great chance at defending our title in
Boracay,” added the 24-year-old graduating Marine and
Fisheries student, who had played his last Nestea Beach
Volley game, leaving the 18-year-old Momoy to prepare
for a shot at reclaiming the crown next year.
The win
propelled AIT to the Final Four, but its giant-killing
way was abruptly halted by UM-Tagum, which was followed
by a crushing 21-14, 21-13 defeat to HCDC in the battle
for third place.
HCDC’s
Sales and Atendido will join the Capitol University and
UM-Tagum pairs to the nationals next month in Boracay.
“We’re
very happy. Our goal going into this tournament is just
to qualify for Boracay, so this win has more than
accomplished our mission,” said Escobal, who will be
making his national finals appearance with new partner
Vivares.
“Now,
we’ll just have to rest for a couple of days, and then
we’ll go back to training hard for our next goal—the
national title,” added the 21-year-old Criminology
student, whose partner in his two previous Boracay trips
was Cubillas, who is now playing for AIT.
By
topping the Mindanao leg, Capitol U will also get a
first-round bye in the national finals.
“We
wanted to win [the title], but we don’t want to risk the
health of my teammate,” said Fabian. “Anyway, we’re also
going to Boracay, so we’ll just aspire for the bigger
prize there.”
Fabian
and Tayabas made it to the finals after thumping
Cubillas and Gonzales, 21-15, 21-14, in the first
semifinals match.
Sales
and Atendido, on the other hand, advanced to the
semifinals following the HCDC pair’s triumph against the
Davao Merchant Marine Academy-College of Southern
Philippines’ duo of Kirk Buduan and Alhaquim Camamara,
17-21, 21-10, 15-6, in the quarterfinals.
It was a
double celebration for UM-Tagum and HCDC as their
women’s squads also made it to the national finals.
UM-Tagum’s
Que and Manatad also defeated Maricel Cabus and Janice
Arnaiz of UM-Davao, 22-20,21-15, while HCDC’s Ramos and
Armacion squeaked past Lina Gampong and Fauzia
Idrissalam of MSU-Tawi-Tawi, 18-21, 21-17, 15-8, in the
Final Four to arrange a trip to Boracay, as well as the
duel for the leg’s crown.
UM-Davao
beat MSU-Tawi-Tawi, 21-17, 21-15, to win the last ticket
to Boracay. |
