SUBIC, Zambales—The Perpetual Altas and Letran Lady Knights remained kings and queens of the sand after respectively regaining the titles in the men’s and women’s divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 99 beach volleyball championship on Sunday at the Sand Courts of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone here.
Perpetual’s dynamic duo of Louie Ramirez and Jefferson Marapoc, and no. 3 Klint Mateo, reclaimed the men’s title after defeating Mapua University in straight sets, 21-19, 21-13.
The Sinfronio Acaylar and Micheal Carino-mentored sand tossers struggled early in the match before eventually finding their groove en route to their second consecutive title.
Perpetual finished with a 7-2 card at the end of the elimination round, along with Mapua and Arellano University.
Meanwhile, the Letran Lady Knights completed a sweep of the women’s division as it took down rival San Beda University in the finals, 21-16, 21-16.
Lara Mae Silva and Gia Maquilang, along with Jogi Maquilang, did not drop a single set en route to the title.
Maquilang won all the individual awards, bagging the Freshman of the Year and Rookie-MVP plums.
Before the finals, the Intramuros-based squad eked out a 22-20, 21-13 win against Emilio Aguinaldo College in the Final Four. San Beda, meanwhile, beat Perpetual, 21-18, 21-18.
EAC finished third after beating Perpetual, 21-16, 16-21, 15-10, in the battle for bronze.
Prior to the finals, Perpetual bested Arellano, 21-12, 21-15, in the Final Four, while Mapua defeated Jose Rizal University, 21-18, 19-21, 15-13. Perpetual and Mapua both had the twice-to-beat bonuses.
JRU clinched the bronze medal as it swept Arellano in the battle for third, 21-11, 21-9.
Ramirez was named as Most Valuable Player, while De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s James Harold Marasigan was Rookie of the Year.
Earlier, EAC reclaimed the juniors’ title after taking down Lyceum of the Philippines University in the finals, 21-17, 16-21, 15-10.
The Brigadiers, composed of Dwayne Alin-Alin, Aljihan Apdian, and Nyle Ecaranum, ended the elimination round with a 6-2 card, along with LPU, Letran, and Perpetual.
EAC, despite the Final Four bonus, needed two games before booking a finals slot.
EAC fell to Perpetual in the first Final Four match, 21-16, 12-21, 8-15, before winning the do-or-die match, 21-17, 21-18.
Alijhan Apdian was named as the Rookie of the Year and MVP.
Letran claimed the bronze medal with a win against Perpetual, 21-19, 21-10.
It was the 4th title of Las Pinas City based sand tossers, under the legendary Acaylar’ and Cariño from Season 88, 92, 98 and now 99.
They are the 2nd winningest team in beach volley after College of St. Benilde with seven titles.