BVR El Nido leg fires off Saturday

MANILA, Philippines – A slew of provincial teams will have their opportunity to strut their wares against the country's best sand court players in the Beach Volleyball Republic On Tour, which opens Saturday at Lio Beach in El Nido, Palawan.

Talents from Lio, El Nido and Puerto Princesa from Palawan, Cebu from Visayas and DAF-ARMM of Davao from Mindanao are among the eight women's and men's pairs competing in the two-day spikefest in the one of the country's finest beaches.

Action-packed beach volleyball will start via pool play at 8 a.m.

Also, the BVR is partnering with Lio Beach El Nido on a development that focuses on sustainability, which is the same principle that the group is guided with — creating a sports program that’s self-sustaining and making Philippines bigger on the map.

The women's cast is led by Perlas 1's Charo Soriano and Bea Tan, Perlas 2's Dzi Gervacio and Roma Doromal, Air Force 1's Mariel Legaspi and Mae Crisostomo, and Air Force 2's Coyah Abanto and Jen Acain.

Soriano and Tan, who ruled the Puerto Galera leg last January, are reunited for the El Nido leg —  the eighth for the year.

The crack men's field includes former UAAP champion KR Guzman and Ian Yee, Air Force's Philip Nunez and Mike Abria, Army's Joshua Barrica and Randy Flores, Manila Unicorns' Neil Flores and Justin Santos, and Wildcard's Mikhail Shavrak and James Buytrago.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and Finals is set Sunday, as the champions in the women's and men's division will receive P50,000.