Subic Bay Freeport—Abanse Negrense A and Sta. Lucia A blasted their respective foes in the semifinals to forge a winner-take-all final battle in the 2021 Gatorade-Philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup Sunday at the Subic Bay sand court here.
The tandem of Alexa Polidario and Erjane Magdato of Abanse Negrense A sealed a spot in the finals following a 21-18, 21-12 win over the duo of Bang Pineda and Jonah Sabete of Sta. Lucia B in the semifinals of this prestigious tournament that is being held in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the Inter-Agency Task Force.
Also making it to the finals were DM Demontano and Jackie Estoquia of Sta. Lucia A, which bested Jennifer Cosas and Gelimae Villanueva of Abanse Negrense A in the penultimate day of this spectacle that has Cherrylume, Ube Express and Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel as sponsors and Cocolife, Cocogen Insurance, Data Project and Genius Sports as technical partners.
Abanse Negrense A and Sta. Lucia A are still clashing for the crown at press time, but whatever happens, they are already winners as they were part of the country’s first-ever volleyball tournament in this time of coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m so thankful and blessed to be part of the PSL’s return. Making it to the championship is just a bonus,” Magdato, a seasoned beach volleyball campaigner from University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, said.
“The best is yet to come and we still have a lot to show in the championship game.”
Estoquia, for her part, said they did everything to win in the semifinals and avert what could have been an all-Negrense finals showdown.
“I told DM in the third set that we need to calm down and use our emotions to bring out the best in us and win the game,” said Estoquia, who nailed three straight points to tow the Lady Realtors to the finals.
Her partner, Demontano, said they would do everything to win the title as they have settled for bridesmaid finishes during the last two editions of this tournament.
“Everybody wants to win the title and you can’t measure the eagerness of both teams in the finals,” Demontano said.
“We will do our best in our third straight finals appearance to finally give a title to Sta. Lucia.”
Sta. Lucia B is clashing with Abanse Negrense B for the bronze medal while F2 Logistics and United Auctioneers are disputing the fifth-place spot and Toby’s Sports and Kennedy Solar Energy-PetroGazz are looking to emerge as seventh-placers.
