LINGAYEN, Philippines – Two teams from Far Eastern University defied the odds yesterday as they hurdled tough opponents and reached the semifinal round of the third leg of the 2010 Petron Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Tournament here.
Comebacking collegiate champion Shaira Gonzales and new teammate Shedd de la Peña leaned on their power game to book a seat in the crossover semifinals with their FEU schoolmates Janine Peñaranda and Loryvel Faytaren after surviving the gutsy plays of De La Salle University-Dasmariñas’ Hidemi Miyata and Eileen Abuel, 21-11, at the sand court of the provincial capitol grounds here.
It was their fourth consecutive win in Group A after absorbing a closely fought 19-21 setback to top qualifier and defending titlist Jennifer Manzano and new teammate Satchel Senupe of De La Salle-Dasmariñas in their opening game last Friday.
They emerged second behind Manzano and Senupe, who went on to bag the top Group A seat after sweeping their five-game assignment in this spikefest supported by Speedo, Mikasa, the Sports Development Program of Pangasinan, Fern-Slim, Coca-Cola, Victory Liner, Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil (second district) and Petron.
Faytaren and Peñaranda, who also finished the eliminations with a 4-1 record, grabbed the second semifinal seat in Group B after bouncing back from a 17-21 loss to the bracket B top qualifiers, Sharah So and Khrysette Onishi of Ateneo.
They earned their fourth win after routing University of the East standouts Rochelle Ramos and Catherine Feliciano, 21-7.
to arrange a showdown with the unbeaten tandem of Manzano and Senupe in the crossover semifinals.
The 21-year-old Gonzales and De la Peña, on the other hand, forged a semis clash with So and Onishi, who pulled off a 5-0 sweep in Group B following a 21-14 beating of 5’11” DLSU-Dasmariñas standout Yari Yongco and Giselle Bembo.
After Gonzales halted the Lady Patriots’ scoring run with a block, she forced Miyata to commit a pair of errors at the net and then unloaded a pair of service winners, which touched off a decisive 8-0 surge.
This enabled Gonzales and De la Peña to move safely ahead with an 11-5 advantage in the ensuing play.
“Kahapon, nanibago kami sa buhangin. Ngayon, hindi kami nag-hesitate sa bola. Nakuha namin ito nang pinabilis namin ang pace ng laro,” said Gonzales.
The Balangobong, Pangasinan-born Manzano capped her team’s five-game sweep of the eliminations with a 21-19 stopping of University of Luzon standouts Cindy Benitez and Melanie Carrera.
Winners and runners-up of the tournament automatically get berths to the Petron Battle of Champions at the end of the year.