Southwestern University I pulled off big upsets, rolling past four fancied Manila bets to earn the first ticket to the national finals of the fourth Nestea Inter-collegiate beach volleyball tournament at the CCP Complex yesterday.
Marie Kenneth Cinco and Janeth Ponte played well together all day as they bundled out their Far Eastern U, Santo Tomas, Ateneo and University of the Philippines rivals.
Cinco and Ponte overcame tremendous pressures against their top-seeded UP counterparts in the final round, hacking out a 12-10 decision to gain a slot in the national finals of the tournament supported by Bayview Park Hotel, Club 10 Beach Resort, Crystal Sand Boracay, 357 Boracay and Seawind Boracay Island.
SWU earlier topped FEU, 12-9, trounced UST, 12-2, and walloped Ateneo, 12-2.
At presstime, La Salle-Dasmarinas, SWU 2, UST 2 and Ateneo are fighting it out to be the day's second qualifier for the Boracay finals.
In the men's division, top-seeded Mapua posted three early victories to boost its chances of moving on to the semis.
Other matches saw unheralded USJR Cebu upset San Beda, 12-1, and UP, 12-2, and PSBA beat St. Louis-Baguio, 12-5, and PNU, 12-9.