Cocolife repels F2 Logistics in PSL opener

MANILA, Philippines -  Cocolife fought back from a set down and edged F2 Logistics A in an extended third set duel, hacking out a 15-21, 21-18, 17-15 decision to grab the opening day honors in the Belo Philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup at SM By the Bay at Mall of Asia grounds yesterday.

Wensh Tiu knocked in a drop shot then watched Fritz Gallenero wilt under pressure to complete the come-from-behind win in the tournament bankrolled by Stoked, Mikasa, Mizuno, Senoh, Rebisco and SM By the Bay with TV5 as official broadcast partner.

A mainstay in various beach volley tourneys, Tiu said her familiarity with her foe – former La Salle teammate Cyd Demecillo – helped them bounce back from a disastrous first set.

They once played together for La Salle in the UAAP and campaigned as teammates in another beach volley tourney.

“I’m quite familiar with her so it really helped,” said Tiu, who also leaned on the steady game of partner Aby Nuval to escape with the win. “We only trained thrice before this tourney and during those trainings, we had tune-up matches with F2 Logistics.”

After leveling the match in the second set, things looked shaky for Cocolife as F2 Logistics crawled back from a 10-12 down to claim the match point, 15-14.

But Tiu connected an ace to tie the match at 15 before scoring with a drop shot.

An attack error by Gallenero sealed the victory, pushing the Asset Managers a win away from the quarterfinals.

“Actually, we had the chance to dominate. It’s just we had a lot of errors in the first set,” Tiu said.

In the men’s side, IEM dominated Wayuk, 21-13, 21-12; SM By the Bay clobbered IEM B, 21-15, 21-16; Cignal crushed Perpetual Help B, 21-10, 21-19; Generika-Ayala dominated Wayuk, 21-12, 21-12; SM By the Bay downed TVM, 21-12, 21-11; Perpetual Help B nipped IEM A, 21-19, 21-17; Perpetual Help A smothered IEM B, 21-17, 21-13; and Generika Ayala flattened IEM A, 21-7, 21-7.