Adamson tops beach volley tilt

Adamson may be the cellar-dweller in the UAAP senior men’s basketball championships but not so in the highly-competitive Tanduay Women’s Beach Volleyball Invitationals held at the Cantada Sports Center in Bicutan last Saturday.

Bannered by Amanda Villanueva and Marlene Cortel, Adamson was the only unbeaten entry among 12 teams that battled for the P30,000 first prize under testy weather conditions. The whole-day affair proved to be a war of attrition as Adamson went through four matches, including two that took a third and deciding set to settle, before claiming the cash. The tournament began at 9 a.m. under cloudy skies and ended at 9:30 p.m. under pouring rain.

Despite the fickle weather, nobody complained as organizer Boy Cantada and son Gerard made sure their guests were treated royally. They didn’t charge a tournament fee and provided unlimited food and drinks from start to finish. There’s no better deal than that. And the athletes enjoyed the parity of competition which brought out the best in them. Additionally, the Cantadas arranged for full TV coverage with the matches split into weekly Sunday early afternoon episodes over the GMA News channel.

When the Cantadas inaugurated the Sports Center in 2001, they wanted to showcase a facility that Filipinos could be proud of. The family spared no expense in offering a wide range of facilities including a basketball court with Robbins maplewood flooring and Porter goals, a practice tunnel for golf, a swimming pool, a gym equipped with Everlast boxing gear, a world-standard boxing ring, a music lounge, a shooting range, badminton courts, a kids playground, a beach volleyball court and even an air-conditioned dormitory for visiting athletes.   

For beach volleyball, the Cantadas installed a lightning detector like what football fields in the US display, lights for night play receptive to TV coverage and a drainage system that is used for sand traps in golf courses. They also trucked in “washed” sand that doesn’t blow in the wind, the kind in first-class golf layouts like Wack-Wack. Because of its all-weather feature, the court is playable whether it’s raining or shining – last Saturday’s tournament was proof.

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The first prize of P30,000 was no slim pickings. The Cantadas also put up P15,000 for the second placer. Gift certificates for meals at the Century Park Hotel were also given to the finalists. And for every player who didn’t make it to the finals, there was a P500 appearance fee and a loot bag with a T-shirt, towel, umbrella and snacks.

In all, 24 players showed up. The 12 teams were split into four groups of three playing against each other in the eliminations. After the single-round format, the winners of each group advanced to the knockout semifinals. Then, the survivors slugged it out in the final. Each match was a best-of-three contest. The first two sets were played to 21 or over with a lead of two while the third and deciding set was played to 15 or over with a lead of two.

In Group 1 were Ateneo I (Michelle Morente and Joanna Maraguinod), University of St. La Salle (USLS) Bacolod/FEU (Camille Abanto and Beauty Denila) and National University I (Jaja Santiago and Bea General). In Group 2 were AA28/La Salle (Aby Marano and April Hingpit), Ateneo II (Sharah So and Khryzette Onishi) and Davao (Angel Antipuesto and Mariel Legaspi). In Group 3 were Luna Café (Bea Tan and Dzi Gervacio), Adamson I (Jessica Galata and Mylene Paat) and Rizal Technological University (Jonafer San Pedro and Cielo Palalang). In Group 4 were Adamson II (Villanueva and Cortel), MW17 (Mic Mic Laborte and Wensh Tiu) and National University II (Ivy Perez and Roma Doromal).

Group 1 ended in a triple tie with three teams brandishing 1-1 records. USLS/FEU wound up advancing with a+77 point total over Ateneo I’s +69 and NU I’s +68. AA28/La Salle beat Ateneo II, 21-12, 21-14 and Davao, 21-11, 21-13, to move up from Group 2 while Luna Café made it out of Group 3 after drubbing Adamson II, 21-19, 21-17, and Rizal, 21-15, 21-18. Adamson I crushed NU II, 21-4, 21-17 and trimmed MW17, 23-21, 21-15, to top Group 4. Adamson I came back from 8-1 down in the first set to level at 11-11, 20-20 and 21-21 before breaking MW17.

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In the semifinals, USLS/FEU downed AA28/La Salle, 21-12, 16-21, 15-6 and Adamson I edged Luna Café, 17-21, 21-16, 15-8. Adamson went on to trip USLS/FEU, 19-21, 21-15, 15-11 in the final. Adamson trailed 11-4 and unleashed a 7-0 surge to close out the third set.

Two players from last Saturday’s tournament saw action at the PCSO National Invitational Intercollegiate Championships also at the Cantada Sports Center in 2009. The southpaw Abanto and partner Maggeh Tolentino played on the FEU entry that won the title over the University of Mindanao. AA28/La Salle’s Hingpit played for USLS in that meet.

Standouts in the Tanduay Invitationals were the lefthanded Cortel, Villanueva who raises her right hand and kicks with her right foot when delivering a serve, the 6-4 Santiago, Laborte the only player in shades, Marano a legendary figure in La Salle volleyball, Tan a model of consistency, San Pedro whose trademark is a searing jump-serve and the cat-quick Legaspi.