Sasing defends beach volley title

PHILIPPINE Volleyball Team member and former University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars spiker Jonrey Sasing showed his vast national and international volleyball experience last Sunday as he defended his crown in the 2014 2nd Sinulog King of the Beach volleyball tournament at the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) beach volleyball courts at Fort San Pedro.
The 29-year-old Liloan, Cebu pride Sasing won the inaugural title of the tournament last year and followed that up with another win this year after scoring the highest possible score of 63 points in the final four.
He bested rivals Rommel Pepito of the Southwestern University (SWU), Jade Becaldo of the University of the Visayas (UV) and Joseph Noval in their round-robin matches.
The top four players followed the original format of playing against a different partner in each and every game in the final four until the player with the highest accumulated score was determined and crowned King of the Beach titlist.
SWU Cobras’ Pepito, who led the tournament after the elimination and going into the final four, settled for the second spot as the 21-year-old Compostela, Cebu-native finished with 54 points.
“No rain and cool temperatures made it for the most perfect playing conditions for the final games. In the end, no one could catch Jonrey Sasing, so it was a huge battle for second place all the way down to the final minute of the tournament,” said PSC beach volleyball consultant Eric Lecain.
Becaldo, who ruled the men’s division of the 15th Nestea Beach Volleyball National Finals at the Crystal Sand Beach Resort in Boracay Island in April 2012 alongside Mike Abria, settled for third spot with 52 points, while Noval dropped to fourth spot with his 51-point production.
Sasing, who also saw action in the 2008 1st Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia, pocketed the top prize of P4,000 cash, while Pepito pocketed P2,000. Becaldo went home with P1,000.
The tournament was organized by the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Department of Education (DepEd) and the Cebu City Local Government Unit.