SSC notches 4th straight win in NCAA beach volley

SUBIC Bay – San Sebastian's Gretchel Soltones and Denice Lim bounced back from an early defeat with four consecutive victories to zoom to the women's division semifinals and keep their title-retention bid alive in the 90th NCAA beach volleyball tournament at the Boardwalk here Friday.

Soltones, who was half of the duo that topped last year's edition, and Lim turned back Perpetual Help's Vhima Condada and Jamela Suyat, 21-17, 21-10, to secure a spot in the semifinals.

After the win, Soltones, a Shakey's V-League veteran, was quick to point at Lim's service improvement as key.

"In our early loss, Denice had a critical service error that cost us a match. But she has since taken care of it and practiced her services right," said Soltones in Filipino.

The Lady Stags absorbed a shock 17-21, 21-16, 13-15 defeat to Letran's Kathleen Barrinuevo and Mariel Larioque the day before but has sprung back to life following four consecutive triumphs.

It included wins over St. Benilde's Janine Navarro and Paulina Ong, 14-21, 21-19, 15-11, Lyceum's Erika Layug and Alanee Paredes, 21-19, 21-12, and San Beda's Camille dela pena and Debbie Dulta, 14-21, 21-19, 15-11.

Soltones and Lim thus joined Arellano University's Angelica Legacion and Elaine Sagun, who were unbeaten in six outings capped by a 21-13, 21-13 thrashing Barrinuevo and Larioque.

Perpetual Help’s Gabriel Casana and Ricky Marcos kept their championship hopes alive in the men's side after they won over Catris and Espejo, 21-13, 21-19.