Rising stars of Alas Pilipinas delivered clutch performances on Saturday at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Nuvali, as National University’s Kat Epa and Honey Grace Cordero, along with University of Santo Tomas’ Khy Progella and Sofia Pagara, punched their tickets to the Round of 12 at the Nuvali Sand Courts.
University Athletic Association of the Philippines champions Epa and Cordero battled past Israel’s Ronni Rivka Lavie and Anita Dave, 21-15, 14-21, 15-9.
Meanwhile, UAAP runners-up Progella and Pagara pulled off a gritty win over the Netherlands’ Danieke Prins and Annemieke Driessen, 23-25, 21-11, 15-10.
James Buytrago and Rancel Varga also kept the Philippine flag flying high after downing BPT Futures Qingdao champions Domonkos Doczi and Bence Attila Streli of Hungary, 21-15, 21-19.
Epa and Cordero struggled in the second set as gusty winds swept through the court, but the duo regrouped in the decider to seal the win in 51 minutes. The temperature started at 36°C and peaked at 38.1°C by the third set.
“It was pretty difficult in the second… I had trouble passing, I was unable to find the right shots,” Cordero admitted. “I told myself in the third, I should make up for the misses.”
Progella and Paraga encountered a different challenge against their taller and more experienced Dutch foes on center court of this tournament organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation, led by President Ramon “Tats” Suzara, who also serves as the President of the Asian Volleyball Confederation and Executive Vice President of the FIVB.
As the young Filipinas raised their intensity, their opponents appeared to deliberately slow the pace between points, drawing delay warnings from the officials.
“They were quite intimidating in the first place,” said 19-year-old Progella, referring to the athletic Dutch pair.
“But the pace of play was a big factor,” she added.
The Philippines tallied 35 attack points to the Dutch’s 27 and notched eight service aces, far surpassing their rivals’ single ace.
Buytrago and Varga, who clinched silver in last year’s BPT Futures, had the advantage of familiarity against their Hungarian foes, having faced them previously in a tune-up.
Their poise paid off in the high-stakes showdown backed by Ayala Land, Nuvali Evoliving, the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT Home, Rebisco, Akari, Mikasa, Microtel by Wyndham South Forbes, Cignal, One Sports, Pilipinas Live, Senoh, Alibaba Cloud, ialchemy, One Over Zero Technologies, and Supreme Infotech Solutions.
“There’s some pressure of course, but we can’t let pressure prevail,” said Buytrago.
However, not all local teams advanced.
Jaron Requinton and Jude Garcia—bronze medalists at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games—fell short against Americans David Wieczorek and John Schwengel, 11-21, 21-16, 10-15.
Lerry John Francisco and Edwin Tolentino were swept by Latvia’s Ralfs Andrejevs and Eduards Dūdens, 21-13, 21-17.
Sunnie Kalani Villapando and Jen Gaviola bowed to Japan’s Nozomi Sekiguchi and Yu Okuno, 21-16, 21-18.
Meanwhile, Alexa Polidario and Dij Rodriguez couldn’t sustain a promising start, losing to Latvia’s Monika Mamaja and Alise Aleksane, 21-12, 11-21, 10-15.
