Cramps end Iloilo's quest

Winning the championship for Central Philippine University (CPU) of Iloilo would’ve been a fitting cap to an MVP showing by 5-8 Jackie (The Rocket) Gonzaga at the PCSO National Invitational Women’s Intercollegiate Beach Volleyball Challenge in the Cantada Sports Center, Taguig, last Saturday.

But after leading CPU to a first set 21-19 win in the semifinals, Gonzaga slumped on the sand, her left leg immobilized by cramps with the University of Mindanao at Tagum ahead, 15-11. The 17-year-old education sophomore took the five-minute injury break but could hardly move when she limped back on the court as Tagum took the second set, 21-15.

Gonzaga, who is being recruited for the national team, tried to play the third and deciding set but couldn’t. Cramps also hit her right leg. Gonzaga and partner Jade Abay were forced to surrender due to injury, ending CPU’s campaign.

The tournament featured 12 teams bracketed into four groups. Tagum, UP and Ateneo 1 made up Group A. Ateneo de Davao, FEU and Letran were in Group B. CPU, Adamson and World Citi Colleges comprised Group C while Group D took in UE, University of St. La Salle Bacolod and Ateneo 2.

The teams played each other once in every group in the eliminations with the four topnotchers advancing to the semifinals. Each match was a best-of-three affair.

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With Gonzaga dominating the net and the mid-court, CPU swamped Adamson, 21-15, 21-16, and World Citi Colleges, 21-5, 21-4 (opening a 10-0 lead) to top Group C. The Iloilo tandem looked ready to barge into the finals after drubbing Tagum in the first set of the semifinals. Then disaster struck.

Tagum topped Group A after downing UP, 21-14, 23-21, and Ateneo 1, 21-18, 21-8. The Mindanao pair of 5-4 Lourdy Catubag and 5-4 Kaka (Killer Server) Quilario played beautiful music together. They stuck to the basics, played without taking too many chances and were methodical in their approach offensively and defensively.

In the finals, Tagum went up against FEU, the Group B leader.

The Lady Tamaraws were bannered by 5-7 lefthander Coyah Abanto and 5-6 Maggeh Tolentino. Unlike other teams that relied on specific roles for their players, FEU boasted of versatility. Both Abanto and Tolentino were scorers. They had the same ability to set up and finish. That’s what made FEU a threat throughout the tournament. Abanto and Tolentino covered for each other without the team losing an advantage.

In the eliminations, FEU downed Ateneo de Davao, 21-18, 21-11, and Letran, 21-10, 21-7. The Lady Tamaraws then came from behind to strike out La Salle Bacolod, 16-21, 21-10, 15-11, in the semifinals.

FEU wouldn’t be denied the crown as Abanto and Tolentino made short work of Tagum, 21-14, 21-18, in the championship match. Tagum fought back from six points down to make it close down the stretch but the Lady Tamaraws just had too much firepower to crumble under pressure.

The surprise of the tournament was La Salle Bacolod which by the way, has its own beach volleyball court and hosted the competitions in the sport at the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

La Salle Bacolod was represented by 5-6 Patty Orendain and 5-6 April Hingpit. The Green squad walloped UE, 21-12, 21-10, and Ateneo 2, 21-5, 21-4, in the eliminations to top Group D. But Bacolod ran out of steam in the semifinals after taking the first set from FEU. No team in the tournament was able to win a set from FEU except La Salle Bacolod.

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Of the 24 players in the competitions, 17 were under 20 with UE’s Jess Paron the youngest at 16 and Ateneo de Davao’s Tiny Pinili the oldest at 25. The tallest player was 5-9 South Ramos of UP while the shortest was 5-1 Pepi Sison of Ateneo 2.

Tournament director was Aljae Depante. Officials were Victor Abalos, Sr., Benjamin Viray, Pedrito Bermas, Severino Silla, Victor Abalos, Jr., Jhimson Merza and Michael Singh.

Host and organizer Edgardo (Boy) Cantada flew in the provincial teams via Zest-Air and provided for their accommodations and meals at the Cantada Sports Center.

“We would’ve brought in another provincial team from Leyte but they confirmed about four hours after the extended deadline,” said Cantada. “We hope they’ll be able to join in our next tournament. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our presentor PCSO and sponsors Toyota-Otis, Toyota-Balintawak, Tanduay, Lucio Tan, Jr. and Mapecon. We’re grateful to our sponsors for giving the opportunity to four provincial teams to play in our invitationals. We’re also thankful to the Metro Manila schools that participated in making our tournament a big success.”

Cantada handed out P10,000 in cash to FEU for winning the title and P5,000 to Tagum for finishing second.

Depante said instead of flooding the tournament with a long list of teams, it was more exciting to limit the entries to just 12 and make each match a best-of-three affair to eliminate the incidence of luck in a straight-to-21 one-setter.

The matches will be shown in 15 episodes at 10 p.m., Sundays, on the NBN-4 network just before Cantada’s long-running boxing show “Fistorama.”