UST bags men’s, ladies’ volley titles

BORACAY, Philippines – University of Santo Tomas achieved history in the 19th Nestea Beach Volley Battle of Champions National Championships, scoring a twin-kill in the men’s and women’s competitions in a massive show of force yesterday.

Tigers Kris Roy Guzman and Anthony Arbasto, the UAAP Season 78 runner-up, disposed of University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars Alastair Gairanod and Kent Jay Verbosidad in straight sets, 21-11, 21-18, to set things rolling for the España-based contingent.

With the triumphant Guzman and Arbasto cheering from the gallery, Tigresses Cherry Rondina and Jem Nicole Gutierrez took care of business and repeated as queens of the sandcourt with a 21-14, 21-14 demolition of University of Mindanao-Tagum’s Dannah Angela Quisado and Mary Cris Asena.

“Naging mahaba ang preparation namin dito at ang mga bata dedicated sa training kaya nagkaroon ng magandang resulta (We prepared well for this and the players dedicated themselves to training so they reaped the fruits),” said UST’s women’s coach Emil Lontoc.

It was a sweeter victory for the Guzman-Arbasto pair as it only got a ticket to Boracay when the original seeded team, reigning UAAP beach volleyball titlist Ateneo, couldn’t participate because of scheduling conflict with their mother league’s indoor volleyball finals.

“Hindi namin expected, first of all, hindi naman kami dapat andito, pero thankful kami na nabigyan kami ng chance (We didn’t expect this considering we weren’t supposed to be even here in the first place. But we made the most of this opportunity),” said Arbasto.

The Tigers raced to a 9-1 lead against the Jaguars to set the tone for the first-set romp. The Cebuanos put up a tougher fight in the second but Guzman and Arbasto came through with powerful shots to complete their win.

“Tinarget namin kung sino sa tingin namin ay kaya namin, yung rookie nila (We targeted their less experienced player),” Arbasto said, referring to Gairanod.

Rondina and Gutierrez stormed to an 18-10 tear in the first frame for a one-set headstart. In the second, UMT managed to keep it close at 15-14 before Rondina nearly singlehandedly delivered the coup de grace.

“Binabasahan lang namin sila ng bola, pag nakita naming lumayo, hindi sila nagda-drop kaya hinabaan namin ang depensa. Saka more on power balls ang binibigay naming pag nareceive ang bola (We noticed they didn’t drop so we played it long and used more power balls),” said Lontoc.

The Tigers earlier beat semis rival Holy Cross of Davao College, 21-13, 21-8, to clinch a seat in the afternoon finals against USJR, which advanced via a 32-34, 21-17, 16-14 decision over Southwestern.

For their part, the Tigresses recovered from a second-set meltdown to edge San Sebastian in the Last-4, 21-13, 10-21, 15-13. UMT reached the championship via a 21-16, 21-15 beatdown of University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos.