Ronald Melencion and James Ryan Rivera, the No.8 team after the men’s elims, caught everybody by surprise, pulling off the big win over Rolando Agus and Alexis Serion of top-ranked Foundation, also a former champion of Nestea Beach Volley.
Melencion and Rivera, the smaller pair, showed the bigger fighting heart to earn their tickets to the Boracay semis and finals on May 5-7. The winning pairs will earn P100,000 in cash and P50,000 worth of sports equipment for their respective schools.
Other men’s teams from the Visayas that will go to Boracay are defending champion and No.2 University of San Jose Recoletos, No.5 University of Negros Occ. Recoletos and No.6 University of San Carlos.
The USJ-R pair of Neil Magillano and Janus Dumaran downed No.7 University of San Agustin, 21-17; UNO-R defeated Iloilo Doctor’s College, 21-14; and USC ousteadied University of the Visayas, 21-16.
Advancing in the women’s side were No.1 UV which demolished No.8 USP, 21-5; back-to-back champion and No.2 Southwestern toyed with No.7 University of Cebu, 21-4; No.4 Foundation U which stopped No.5 San Agustin, 22-20; and No.6 USJ-R which surprised No.3 UNO-R, 21-15.
The Mindanao elims will be held today at the same venue where eight teams in the men’s and women’s divisions play three matches in the elims. The top four teams will advance outright to the Boracay stage.
This year’s sponsors are Speedo, Mikasa, Cebu Pacific, Hey Jude Resorts, La Salle Greenhills, Villa de Oro, Coppertone, Boracay Regency, Power Plant Mall, National Sports Grill and Click the City.com.