UE pair catches last bus to Petron volley semis

DASMARIÑAS, Cavite, Philippines  – University of the East standouts Francislyn Cais and new teammate Lorie Longalong quashed the San Beda College-Manila pair of Kimmie de la Vega and Debbie Dultra, 21-7, Saturday to advance to the semifinal round the 2011 Petron Ladies’ Beach Volleyball Tournament third leg at the De La Salle Health Sciences Institute here.

After finishing Group B with a 2-2 record, the UE pair joined in the semifinals their fellow Lady Amazons Jimberly Dizon and Jessica Paron, together with defending champions and La Salle-Dasmariñas spikers Jennifer Manzano and Satchel Senupe, whose schoolmates Iari Yongco and Giselle Bembo also advanced to the next round of the two-day volley fiesta backed by Petron, Mikasa Balls and Speedo.

Cais and Longalong banked on a higher tiebreak quotient to reach the semifinals after they finished tied at second spot with Philippine Christian University spikers Alyanna Marie Gorospe and Rose Beige Mendoza, and the team of University Perpetual Help-GMA bets Evarlene de Vera and Charlotte Diaz.

With their backs against the wall going into their last game, the UE tandem picked up the pace against De la Vega and Dultra after their foes from San Beda-Manila took a 4-3 edge.

A smash from Longalong and a pair of service winners from Cais touched off nine straight points for the UE duo, which grabbed a 13-4 cushion en route to the win.

“We didn’t expect to reach semis, but we tried by stepping up the pace and it resulted in a rout,” said Cais, a marketing management sophomore.

  Manzano and Senupe had little trouble sweeping their four-game assignment in Group A, posting a 21-15 win over Centro Escolar’s Anna Chua and Precious Uy, a 21-14 beating of Dizon and Paron, and a 21-14 stopping of Perpetual Help-Molino’s Shane Collarga and Debbie Palma.

Dizon and Paron, who finished Group A with a 3-1 slate, made it to the semis after they bounced back from their opening-day loss to Manzano and Senupe with three consecutive victories.

Yongco and Bembo, on the other hand, also came away unbeaten in Group B, hacking out a 21-14 edging of Gorospe and Mendoza, a 24-22 win over De la Vega and Dultra, and a 22-20 triumph over De Vera and Diaz and a 21-13 conquest of Cais and Longalong.

Champions and runners-up of the first three legs of the Petron circuit will face off in the Battle of the Champions this October in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, the perennial host of the tournament’s second and fourth legs.