TWELVE men’s teams and 11 women’s teams will battle this weekend as Nestea brings beach volleyball action to the beaches of Moalboal for the Visayas leg of the famed Nestea beach volley circuit.
After stopping by in Davao for its eliminations last month, the tournament shifts to the Queen City of the South, looking for three teams each that will compete for the national championship this April 19 to 21 in Boracay Island.
The champion squads will go home with a whopping P100,000 each.
Many-time national champions Southwestern University, University of San Carlos, University of San Jose-Recoletos and the University of Southern Philippines Foundation comprise the pack of Cebu squads that are hungry to qualify for the next round in the women’s division.
In the men’s side, a fierce battle is expected to be waged by the same roster of squads mentioned above save for SWU. They will also be joined by the University of the Visayas and the University of Cebu.
However, the Cebu teams will be opposed by some very tough tandems from different schools from all over the region. Dumaguete will be represented by both their men’s and women’s teams from the Foundation University. Bacolod will also be looking for some piece of the action with representatives in both divisions from University of St. La Salle and University of Negros Occidental.
The men and women of Iloilo’s Central Philippines University, Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion, and the Bohol Institute of Technology will also be fighting for a spot during the eliminations along with the men of John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University and the women of the University of Bohol.
The top three squads in each division will get to qualify for slots to the national finals in Boracay.
The weekend will not only showcase the best beach volleyball action in the region but also some side events such as a Frisbee competition this Friday and a beach soccer tournament the following day. There will also be a coastal clean–up drive at the Barangay Saavedra, Sitio Bas Dako coastal area. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio