Foton, Gilligan’s duel for quarterfinal slot in Superliga

MANILA, Philippines - Fresh from huge reversals over their highly touted rivals in last week’s opener, Gilligan’s pair Danika Gendrauli and Jane Diaz and Foton Hurricane’s Bea Tan and Pau Soriano engage in a thrilling dispute for a quarterfinal berth in today’s PLDT Home Ultera-Philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup 2015 at the SM By the Sands in SM Mall of Asia.

Gilligan’s, which stunned Cignal HD Spikers A’s Cha Cruz and Micmic Laborte, 21-15, 21-15, and Foton Hurricane, which upstaged crowd favorite Petron XCS’s Gretchen Ho and Charo Soriano, 21-16, 21-13, clash in an explosive battle of opening-day winners in Pool D at 1 p.m.

““Our victory will be worthless if we could not sustain it (today),” Gendrauli, an accomplished beach volleyball player from Cebu, said in Filipino.

“It’s a tough bracket, every team is strong. We’ll just do our best each game,” said Tan, a former Ateneo star.

Philips Gold’s Rossan Fajardo and Aileen Abuel gun for their second straight victory and a quarters berth against Amy’s bets Samantha Dawson and Marleen Cortel in Pool A at 4 p.m.

Meralco’s Jem Gutierrez and Jusabelle Brillo and Foton Tornadoes’ Fiola Ceballos and Patty Orendain mix it up in a duel of unbeaten teams in Pool C at 4:40 p.m.

Cruz and Laborte of Cignal Spikers A and Alex Micek and Fille Cayetano of Petron Sprint 4T, which also dropped their Day One assignment, mix it up in a crucial Pool D encounter at 3:20 p.m.

Ho and Soriano of Petron XCS, meanwhile, look to get back on track in Pool D against Accel Quantum Plus B-Perpetual Molino’s Aurora Tripoli and Rochet dela Paz at 2:30 p.m.

In men’s play, Perpetual Molino A tangles with SM By the Bay B in the 7:30 a.m. curtain-raiser  to be followed by the showdowns between Centerstage and Champion Infinity A at 8:20 a.m.,  Perpetual Molino B and Champion Infinity B at 9 p.m.,  SM By the Bay A and Cignal HD Spikers B at 9:40 a.m., Cignal HD Spikers A and Champion Infinity A at 10:20 a.m.,  Perpetual Molino A and Centerstage at 11 a.m.,  IEM and Cignal HD Spikers B at 11:40 a.m. and Perpetual Molino B and SM By the Bay at 12:20 p.m.

SM By the Bay B returns to the sandcourt at 7 p.m. versus Centerstage while Champion Infinity B faces SM By the Bay A at 7:40 p.m., Cignal HD Spikers A meets Perpetual Molina A at 8:20 p.m.,  and IEM collides with Perpetual Molino B in the 9 p.m. nightcap.

The tournament is organized by Sports Core with Accel as official outfitter, Sands By the Bay as venue partner and Maynilad as official water provider. Games are aired live over TV5.