It was the third competition organized by Edgardo (Boy) Cantada, son Gerard and daughter Therese to showcase collegiate stars in the Olympic sport that’s becoming increasingly popular all over the world.
College of St. Benilde sent in four entries. Adamson had three, Far Eastern University (FEU) two and World Citi Colleges, St. Francis of Assisi and the PATTS College of Aeronautics one each.
To get the ball rolling, the Cantadas assembled the players and officials for a 9 a.m. breakfast meeting in one of several air-conditioned conference halls in the sprawling sports complex. On the buffet table were trays of Vigan-style longganisa, waffles, pancakes, fried rice, scrambled eggs and bangus.
The tournament format was clear and simple. The teams were split into four groups of three. Each entry played groupmates once in the eliminations with the top two per group advancing to the knockout quarterfinals. Elimination and quarterfinal matches were played to 21 points with a lead of two. Then the survivors squared off in the best-of-3 semifinals. The winners moved on to dispute the championship in the best-of-3 finals while the losers faced off in another best-of-3 series for third place.
The first two sets in a best-of-3 series were played to 21 points. A third set, if necessary, was played to 15 points with a lead of two.
At the end of the eliminations, four teams were struck out—St. Benilde 4, PATTS, Adamson 2 and World Citi Colleges. Three teams from St. Benilde were unbeaten with identical 2-0 records. The five other quarterfinalists toted 1-1 slates.
Three thrillers in the eliminations saw St. Benilde 4 eking out a 22-20 win over FEU 1, FEU 1 barely beating St. Francis, 21-19 and FEU 2 narrowly edging World Citi Colleges, 23-21.
In the quarterfinals, Adamson 1 bowled over St. Benilde 3, 21-13, St. Benilde 1 beat FEU 2, 21-13, Adamson 3 ousted St. Francis, 21-11 and St. Benilde 2 trounced FEU 1, 21-11.
The semifinal pairings pitted teams from the same schools. St. Benilde 1 came from behind to beat St. Benilde 2, 17-21, 21-19, 16-14, and Adamson 1 crushed Adamson 3, 21-16, 21-13.
In the playoff for third, St. Benilde 2 beat Adamson 3, 21-13, 21-14, for the P4,000 prize. St. Benilde 2’s squad was made up of two 5-6 strikers, Janilyn (The Rocket) Sarabia and Zeira Castillon. Adamson 3’s players were Donna Leil Adajar and Rissa Jane Laguilles.
For a while, it looked like St. Benilde 2 would forfeit the playoff as Castillon could hardly walk because of cramps after a long semifinal duel. But Castillon, a hotel and restaurant management student, shrugged off the pain to play her heart out.
The title match was classic. St. Benilde 1 was heavily favored because in the eliminations, it had little difficulty disposing of Adamson 1, 21-12.
In the first set, the Lady Blazers romped to a 21-17 win as spiker Gloricel Garcia played beautiful music with setter Faith Ann (Tinker Bell) de Guzman. But in the second set, Adamson 1’s Hannah Suarez of Negros Occidental and Kristine Anne (Bandana Girl) Dave of Sorsogon stormed back to even the count, 21-13.
De Guzman’s serve hit the net to give Adamson 1 match point at 14-10. Then Dave drove home a spike for the final blow, 15-10. The win earned for Adamson 1 the top prize of P10,000 while St. Benilde 1 settled for P7,000.
Adamson 1’s quickness made the difference in defense. The Lady Falcons were never rattled by St. Benilde 1’s booming serves and kept their composure under fire. Suarez and Dave displayed superb teamwork in frustrating St. Benilde 1’s repeated attempts to break away.
The tournament took about 10 hours to finish but nobody complained. The Cantadas provided breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks throughout the long day. And the facilities were excellent—from the sand court to the shower rooms to the lounges to the shaded stands to the night lights to the TV coverage.
There were several standouts in the competitions. Aside from the players who saw action in the semifinals and finals, the shining stars included FEU 1’s Mylene Bautista, Adamson 2’s Marinella Estanislao, FEU 2’s Nadia Galang, St. Francis’ 5-7 Acelyn Dubiao, St. Benilde 4’s Katty (Pink Panther) Kwan, St. Benilde 3’s Ina Osorio and PATTS’ Genevieve Lanuevo.
The youngest player in the tournament was 16-year-old physical therapy freshman Jennifer Galamiton of World Citi Colleges. The oldest were Dave and Sarabia, both 22.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea if a few of the Southeast Asian Games beach volleyball games were held at the Cantada Sports Center. The visiting teams will surely have good things to say about it.