UV, UMT lead VisMin bets to nat’l finals of Nestea beach

Moalboal, Cebu – University of the Visayas (UV) and University of Mindanao Tagum (UMT) clinched the regional titles of their respective division in the 16th Nestea Beach Volley 2013 VISMIN leg which ended yesterday at the pristine white sand beach of Bas Dako in barangay Saavedra, here.

The UV duo of Jade Becaldo and Mike Abria outsmarted the Mindanao State University-Tawi-Tawi pair of Aga Tailuddin and Nur-Amin Madsairi, 21-15, 21-15, for the men’s title while Lourdilyn Catubag and Karen Kay Quilario powered UMT past Southwerstern University’s (SWU) Danika Yolanda Gendrauli and Raphril Aguilar, 21-18, 21-18, for the women’s ceown.

The win gives UV the chance to defend its national title in the national finals set on Boracay Island from April 18 to 20.

The top 6 teams each in the men’s and women’s divisions will go to Boracay for the national finals.

UV coach Raffy Briones said that they have been training for the Nestea Beach volley since last November.

However, he admitted that for this year, their aim was not the regional championships because they already knew that it will be using a single elimination format. So, their aim was to enter the top 6 and get to Boracay and defend their title.

BECALDO’S FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP

“First, we are very proud and happy for our players, then we are very thankful to God for giving us this opportunity. We also thank the Gullas family for giving us the support,” Briones said.

Becaldo, a Nautical student, will soon be leaving the team as he will be taking his on-the-job training for one year. But Briones said that Becaldo has promised to give the Boracay national finals his best.

According to Briones, the UV team will resume their practice at the sandcourt in Fort San Pedro after a one week rest because of the Holy Week.

UV grabbed a finals ticket after beating SWU in the quarterfinal round then University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) A in the semifinals.

During the final match, UV cruised to a six-point lead in the first set prompting MSU-Tawi-Tawi to call for a time-out.

That proved an effective strategy as MSU-Tawi-Tawi slowly chipped at UV’s lead, 14-12 after Becaldo’s ball went out of bounds.

However, Becaldo made up for it with a corner shot allowing UV to once again build up its advantage.

The second set was an all-UV show with Abria living up to his monicker “the wall” by blocking several MSU shots and Becaldo serving aces.

UV is joined in the top 6 by two other Cebuano teams—USJ-R and University of Southern Philippines Foundation; and three from Mindanao—MSU-Tawi-Tawi, UMT, and Holy Cross of Davao College.

In the distaff side, UMT got the best of SWU by going for a clinical game that saw them not hitting the ball hard but putting the ball where it matters.

UMT also pounced on several unforced errors of SWU especially on its service game.

UMT arranged a final duel with SWU by dismissing University of Negros Occidental Recoletos in the quarterfinals and Jose Maria College (JMC) in the semifinals.

SWU had its moment when it dismissed regional and national champions Central Philippines University (CPU) in the semifinals.

Joining UMT in the top 6 are SWU, CPU, Jose Maria College, USPF and USC.