Petron beach volleyball second leg up at Baywalk

A new set of beach volley queens will be crowned champions when the second leg of the 2006 Petron Ladies Beach volleyball tournament erupts May 5-6 at the Manila Baywalk.

No one from the 20-woman, 10-team roster has been a past winner of this prestigious beach volley tournament in the past, making it a wide-open race that could give berth to future stars of the sport.

"This is the very essence of this tournament — to discover new talents that could carry on the torch in the future so that there will be a continuous turnover of beach volleyball talents, whom fans of the sport can look up to," said organizer Tisha Abundo, a former commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Backed by Petron, Asian College of Science and Technology (ACSAT), Speedo (official outfitter), Mikasa (official ball) and Action and Fitness Magazine, the two-day beach volleyball extravaganza is the second of a four-leg annual series featuring gorgeous beach volley babes that are also competitively capable of putting up a top-rate action on the sandcourt.

Held in cooperation with the Manila Sports Council (MASCO), headed by its chairman Arnold "Ali" Atienza, the tournament is now on its fourth year and is one of the highly-anticipated beach volleyball tournaments today.

"We’re coming back to the Baywalk, where the Manileño crowd is fantastic. We thought of holding the second leg in Manila once again because the crowd there is very appreciative and discriminating. They know that we offer a high-octane action at the Baywalk, that’s why they always come in droves whenever we play there," said Abundo.

"And I thank Masco chairman for that, because he, just like his Manila Mayor dad Lito Atienza, has always been supportive of grassroots sports, such as this one," Abundo said. Comprising the 20-woman roster are Ross Margaret Remulla, Roxanne Belardo, Maria Lea Bariuad, Tadel Carinan, Renelyn Perez, Roseane Rivero, Sheena Teves, Venus Benecio, Charize de Castro, Lorna dela Cruz, Kathy Sotejo, Kristia Ricana, Melissa Legaspi, Daisy Jaen, Cindy Velasquez, Thelmarie Barina, Roseane Baroga, Carla Santos, Jesica Ticala and Sherie Garcia.

The champion team will receive P10,000, a trophy and goodies from Speedo while runner-up gets P5,000. All winners and runners-up gather at season’s end to fight it out in the Battle of the Champions.