Three-peat seeking University of Santo Tomas’ Cherry Rondina and Babylove Barbon blazed through their matches before Typhoon Queenie forced a suspension of Day 4 of the UAAP Women’s Beach Volleyball tournament at the Sands SM By the Bay.
Rondina and Barbon romped erstwhile-unbeaten National University rookies Kly Orillaneda and Antonette Landicho (21-12, 21-7) in the morning before slapping the young Adamson University rookies Hannah Infante and Gracel Ave (21-7, 21-11) in what turned out to be the day’s final match.
Per UAAP rules, the last three women’s matches were cancelled due to the heavy rain accompanied by lightning. Those matches are the FEU Lady Tamaraws-Ateneo Lady Eagles, UP Lady Maroons-UE Lady Warriors, and DLSU Lady Spikers-NU Lady Bulldogs.
“Iniisip lang namin kung ano ‘yung goal namin; manalo matalo man basta we did our best, that’s what matters eh,” said the graduating Rondina, who nears a fourth career elimination round sweep.
A win on their final elimination round outing against FEU’s Ivana Agudo and Sheena Gallentes sends UST to straight to the Finals.
“Hindi na namin iniisip ‘yung resulta masyado. Sinasabi ko sa kanya (Barbon) kung gusto mo maganda ‘yung outcome ng paghihirap natin, bakit hindi natin ituloy ‘to,” she opined. “Ang maganda sa kanya is nagpapadala kahit parang gigil ako maglaro. Nahihirapan akong dalhin pero maganda sa kanya is palaban siya. Siguro, ‘yung pag-intindi sa isa’t isa aayusin pa namin.”
The battle for the fourth seed got tighter as Ateneo’s Ponggay Gaston and Jules Samonte edged out University of the Philippines’ Justine Dorog and Isa Molde (21-16, 17-21, 16-14).
Both teams ended they day with similar record with 2-3 records while Adamson sits at 2-4.
De La Salle’s Michelle Morente and Tin Tiamzon, on the other hand, stayed on track for a twice-to-beat advantage after dumpiny University of the East’s Lyen Ritual and Donna Nebrea (21-4, 21-5).
The cancelled matches will resume on Friday, preceding the scheduled games.
UAAP Season 81 Women’s Beach Volleyball
Standings after Day 4
UST 6-0
DLSU 4-1
NU 4-1
ADMU 2-3
UP 2-3
ADU 2-4
UE 0-5
