MANILA, Philippines — Foton and F2 Logistics hammered out a pair of straight-set romps over Smart and Cocolife B, respectively, to bolster their bids in the Philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup at the Sands By the Bay in Mall of Asia yesterday.
Nieza and Jeziela Viray banked on their solid attacks and defense to defuse Ma. Cecilia Bangad and Caitlyn Viray, 21-10, 21-17, for Foton’s second victory and a spot in the quarterfinals while the F2 Logistics pair of Michelle Morente and Fritz Gallenero blasted Cocolife B of Marge Tejada and Alex Tan, 21-16, 21-11.
In the men’s side, Sands By the Bay and Cignal swept their respective pool plays to roll into the semifinals.
Bryan Bagunas and James Natividad of Sands By the Bay eased past Joshua Ylaya and JP Pareja, 21-10, 21-13, to top Pool A, while Mike Abria and Jessie Lopez of Cignal ripped Philip Bagalay and Gregory Utopia of Smart, 21-14, 21-16, following their 21-17, 21-18 thrashing of Alsali Pajiji and Relan Taneo of Navy.
But the day belonged to the Viray twins – the reigning NCAA beach volleyball queens, who displayed tremendous composure early to dictate the tempo and throw Bangad and Viray out of their comfort zones.
Jeziela said they struggled in their first match against Cignal B in the opener, prompting them to make some key adjustments that keyed their victory.