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PUERTO PRINCESA
City—University
of the Philippines standouts Danielle Michiko Castañeda
and Leah Acepcion recovered from a first-set setback en
route to a 18-21, 21-14, 15-8 victory over their
schoolmates Carmela Lopez and Rebecca Gail Montero to
rule the second leg the 2008 Petron Ladies’ Beach
Volleyball Tournament at the Baywalk sand court Sunday.
The
five-foot-10 Castañeda, a special education senior, kept
Lopez and Montero at bay with her tight defense at the
net, enabling her and Acepcion to complete a
championship sweep of the tournament with six wins.
They
received a total prize of P20,000 after Mayor Edward
Hagedorn sweetened the pot by adding P10,000 to the top
purse of the spikefest backed by Petron, Mikasa Balls,
Speedo and the city government of Puerto Princesa.
More
important, the duo earned berths to the Battle of
Champions where the season’s winners and runners-up slug
it out for the national crown at the end of the year.
Acepcion,
an incoming physical education sophomore, felt cramps in
her legs in the first set, allowing Montero and Lopez to
move ahead on their foes’ four net errors, 16-12, before
sealing the win at 21-18.
In the
second set, they fought their way out of a 9-all
deadlock after Castañeda scored three points on smashes
for a 17-12 edge, which they padded even further to
21-14. In the final set, Castañeda rained her rivals
with smashes to gain headway, 17-12.
Montero
and Lopez reached the finals following a 21-11 upset
over Asian College of Science and Technology pair Sheena
Rose Rves and Raisalyn Noleal. They went home with
P10,000, instead of P5,000, after Hagedorn also doubled
the purse for the runner-up.
Drenched
by a sudden downpour during their semifinal encounter
with San Sebastian College standouts Russell Jalbuna and
birthday celebrator Princess Elaine Cruz, Castañeda and
Acepcion nearly succumbed to fatigue as they hammered a
scrambling 21-18 win to enter the finals against their
schoolmates.
“This is
the most difficult game for us in the tournament because
we went up against our teammates,” said Acepcion.
Castañeda and Acepcion pulled off a 4-0 sweep during the
elimination round, including a 21-13 win over Philippine
School of Business Administration campaigners Roxanne
Naral and Dyrene Benecio, 21-13. |
