Beach Volleyball Republic fires off this weekend

MANILA, Philippines – Some of the beach volleyball players in the country will hold the Beach Volleyball Republic, an open tournament set on Saturday and Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia by the Sands in Pasay City.

Former Ateneo star Charo Soriano, one of the founders of the tournament, will team up with Fil-Am Alexa Micek in the two-day tournament that drew participation from a total of 10 teams.

Fille Cainglet-Cayetano and Denden Lazaro, likewise former Ateneo standouts, the duo of Bea Tan and Brazilian Rupia Inck, and the tandem of Jannine Marciano and Bang Pineda are three of the squads to watch out for.

The other squads seeing action will be composed San Sebastian's Julie Ann Tiangco and Mariel Sinamban, April Hingpit and Maica Morada, Judy Caballejo and Camille Abanto, Arielle Estranero and Vina Alinas, University of the Phl's April Romero and Rose Cailing and UST's Rica Rivera and Cherry Rondina.

"We're expecting nothing less than excitement this weekend," said Soriano, who played with Micek as one of the country's two representatives in the Spike for Peace at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City last week.

Soriano said the event is part of their program not just to promote the sport but also to scrape for possible talents from the provinces not just in the big city.

In fact, the same group will visit Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod City, Boracay, Cagayan Valley, Palawan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Dapitan City, La Union and Cebu to spread the word about the sport.

"This is more than a tournament or a beach volleyball event. Our goal is to really reach out to the provinces and spread the word that we have a chance to excel in this sport," said Soriano.