University of Santo Tomas and Adamson University finished first and second in the eliminations, respectively, to enter the UAAP Season 85 high school girls’ beach volleyball tournament on Tuesday at Sands SM By The Bay.
Grydelle Matibag and Sofia Payara withstood De La Salle-Zobel’s Lorien Gamboa and Aislinn Alemaña’s second-set fightback to hack out a 21-13, 23-21 win, giving the Junior Tigresses a five-match sweep of the elims.
The Baby Falcons ended up with a 4-1 record after Shaina Nitura and Felicity Sagaysay fended off National University Nazareth School’s Kizil Quijote and Mariska Barroga’s second-set uprising to score a 21-18, 23-21 victory.
UST and Adamson will compete for the championship title at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The Junior Tigresses defeated the Baby Falcons 21-18, 21-17 in their elimination round duel on Monday.
The Junior Lady Spikers finished with a 3-2 record to achieve a podium finish.
Far Eastern University-Diliman’s Lovely Lopez and Gracela Villanueva capped off the season with back-to-back victories after a 21-14, 21-11 conquest of Ateneo’s Christen Quimpo and Lian Garcia.
The Baby Tamaraws placed fourth at 2-3, followed by the Bullpups (1-4) and the Blue Eagles (0-5).
On the men’s side, FEU-D has secured the first Final Four berth after hurdling two of its biggest championship contenders.
Kyle Tandoc and Amet Bituin rallied from a set down to NUNS’s John Dionela and Eugene Gloria, 13-21, 21-19, 15-11 in a duel of undefeated teams.
The Baby Tamaraws extended their perfect run to five matches and secured the twice-to-beat Final Four bonus following a 21-12, 21-14 romp of UST’s Kenneth Salvador and Diego Estrabon.
FEU-D aims to complete a six-match sweep of eliminations against Ateneo at 3:40 p.m. Wednesday.
The Final Four and the one-match Final are set on Thursday.
The Bullpups dropped to second place with a 3-1 record while the Junior Tiger Sands now sport a 3-2 record.
Adamson moved into a tie with UST in fourth place at 3-2 as Brandy Clemente and King Hermosa overpowered DLSZ’s Jamie Ang and Robert Flores, 21-3, 21-3.
UE is also in the Final Four mix.
The Junior Warriors improved to 2-2, just half-a-game out of the No. 4 spot after Jan Macam and Brent Maralit topped the Junior Green Spikers, 21-16, 21-6.
The Blue Eagles and the Junior Green Spikers now have 1-4 and 0-6 slates, respectively.
