St. Benilde bags beach volley title

For over 12 hours, the Cantada Sports Center was host to 19 teams that congregated to vie for top honors in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Women’s Collegiate Beach Volleyball Challenge in Taguig last Sunday.

Close to 40 players got together to play the sport that’s not only the in-thing to do during summer and also one of the most popular chill-out competitions for school kids, all year round, rain or shine, in a format of two against two.

Promoter Edgardo (Boy) Cantada, his wife Tonette and their children Gerard and Therese organized the event, their fourth beach volleyball tournament, in the sprawling Taguig facility that has a full-sized basketball court, a shooting range, a children’s playground, a track for horseback riding, a gym, a boxing ring, a badminton court, a place for golf lessons and a dormitory.

Last October, the Cantadas staged their third beach volleyball competition and attracted 12 teams from five schools. This time, there were 19 teams from eight schools—six from the College of St. Benilde, four from the World Citi Colleges (WCC), two each from Far Eastern University (FEU), St. Francis of Assisi and St. Jude College and one each from the Philippine Air Transport and Training Service (PATTS), Olivarez College and Assumption of Makati.

To spice up the hostilities, the Cantadas offered prize money for the top three finishers—P10,000 for first, P7,000 for second and P4,000 for third.

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The 19 teams were split into six groups for the elimination phase. Five groups were made up of three each and the sixth took in four. The six topnotchers in each group advanced to the quarterfinals, meaning 13 pairs were struck out after the first cut. The six survivors were then bracketed into two groups. The top two placers in each quarterfinal group moved on to play in the knockout crossover semifinals where the No. 1s faced the No. 2s. The losers battled for third place in a consolation match while the winners disputed the championship in a best-of-3 series where the first two sets were straight-to-21 and the third, if necessary, straight-to-15. Every other match was a straight-to-21 affair.

At the end of the eliminations, the six teams left standing were St. Benilde 3, St. Jude College 2, PATTS, Olivarez, St. Benilde 1 and St. Francis 1.

The only elimination match that went into extension was St. Benilde 2’s 22-20 thriller over St. Jude College 1. St. Benilde 2 was represented by statuesque 5-9 Erin Canoy and Ina Osorio. The most lopsided result was Olivarez’ 21-6 romp over WCC 3.

In the quarterfinals, St. Benilde 1 (Gloricel Garcia-Faith de Guzman) and St. Francis 1 (Sarah Gonzaga-Acelyn Dubiao) emerged the only unbeaten squads. St. Benilde 1 crushed St. Benilde 3 (Kerlyne Mulingtapang-Doreen Sanchez), 21-8, and PATTS (Jennifer and Jeneveve Lanuevo), 21-13, while St. Francis 1 blasted St. Jude College 2 (Dianna Cruz-Beverly Simon), 21-13, and Olivarez (Roseanne Barroga-Rowena Felices), 21-17.

PATTS, however, advanced to the semifinals by beating St. Benilde 3, 21-18, and Olivarez also made it to the final four by eclipsing St. Jude College 2, 21-16.

In the semifinals, St. Benilde 1 was merciless in trouncing Olivarez, 21-8, and St. Francis came from behind to edge PATTS, 21-19. PATTS bounced back to stun Olivarez, 21-12, for third place, as the Lanuevo sisters repeatedly kept Barroga and Felices off balance by sending the ball over the net on the first touch into the deep corners.

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St. Benilde 1 wouldn’t be denied its first Cantada championship as the Lady Blazers cruised to a 21-17, 21-10 victory over St. Francis 1 in the finals. De Guzman, light-footed like Tinker Bell—her nickname—and as quick-stepping, was unstoppable at the net, dinking and spiking much to St. Francis’ exasperation. Garcia, nicknamed Boom Boom for her sharp rocket serves, controlled the action from the backline.

De Guzman, a third year human resource management student, was the tournament MVP. Tinker Bell, 20, and Boom Boom, 21, also paired to win the NCAA and Nestea beach volleyball championships this year.

Aside from the four players who figured in the finals, other standouts were Barroga, Sanchez, St. Francis 2’s 5-8 1/2 Aprilyn Mojica, the Lanuevo sisters and FEU’s Dianne (Fortune Cookie) Cu. The tallest player was St. Benilde’s six-foot Cristy Velasquez and the youngest were WCC’s Corazon Estrella and FEU’s Joy Ibuyan, both 16.

Hamburgers, hotdogs and refreshments were provided the participants and guests all day long by the Cantadas who are well-known for their generous hospitality.

The word is quickly spreading about the warm atmosphere, wholesome ambiance and top-notch facilities at the Cantada Sports Center which was constructed to honor the late sportscasting legend Smokin’ Joe Cantada. More and more sporting events are being lined up in the complex as the Cantadas go all out to do their share in promoting the development of sports in the country.

The beach volleyball matches, by the way, will be serialized on the Cantadas’ afternoon timeslot on RPN-9 every Sunday.