La Salle, UP spikers wrest Petron lead

Purok Marcela, Lingayen , Philippines   – Spikers from De La Salle University-Dasmarinas and the University of the Philippines dominated the aciton yesterday to grab the early lead at the start of the 2009 Petron Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Tournament third leg at the beach front of the Purok Marcela Resort here.

Lanky April Almaden and her DLSU-Dasmariñas teammate Jennifer Manzano got off to a fiery start and sustained their momentum until the end as they fought off Ateneo standouts Asia Urquico and Jessica Morado, 21-13.

Meanwhile, Regina Tungol and Wensh Tiu prevailed over DLSU-Dasmariñas schoolmates Hidemi Miyata and Nina Lopez, 21-11, for their first win, that was matched by UP standouts Amanda Christine Isada and Lorraine Chua.

Isada and Chua, both freshmen at UP, bucked the strong winds from the Lingayen Gulf as they held off Philippine School of Business Administration bets Dyrene Rose Benecio and Jamaica Lauzon, 21-13.

The two-day event was backed by Petron, Speedo and Mikasa, along with the support of Pagcor, Coca-Cola, Victory Liner, Tanduay Rhum, Orica Phils., Inc. Dragon Fireworks, Inc. Mandarin Chemicals, Trust Trade Inc. Izumo Builders, Inc.

The 5’8” Almaden, who made it to the finals of the Battle of Champions last November with a different partner in Precious Grace Abano, was all over the place as they set the tone of their masterful win.

Philippine National Police General Francisco Manalo Jr., who is the deputy director for Police Operations (Northern Luzon) stayed on and watched the games after making the ceremonial serve, with organizer Tisha Abundo.

Almaden’s service winners and smashes at the net lifted her and partner Manzano, who is a Pangasinense, to a 5-0 advantage in the contest.

 Errors at the backline by Urquico allowed Almaden and Manzano to eventually widen their advantage by eight, 12-4.

“Laro lang. Nilagyan lang namin ng power sa palo, para siguradong pasok at bawal pa sa amin ang magkamamali.. Hindi naman perfect, pero naiwasan namin ang madaming errors,” said the 19-year-old Almaden.

Tiu, on the other hand, came off with seven service winners as she and Tungol took charge with a 7-1 spurt at the start.

Isada and Chua forced Benecio and Lauzon into errors at the backside midway in the contest, and scored four crucial points, which gave them 16-11 lead.

“We just looked for the weak spots, which were the long balls. So, that’s what we targeted the whole time,” said Isada, a tourism student.