Becaldo-Pepito sweeps elims, roars to Magic 8

A player from Dipolog tries to save the ball in their game against USJ-R. USJ-R won the match, 21-12.
john catlo villaruel

Reigning men’s champions Jade Becaldo and Rommel Pepito of Redline Liloan sent a strong message of their intent to keep their crown at all cost by sweeping their elimination round assignments and advancing to the quarterfinal round if the 7th leg of the Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) on a sunny Friday in Moalboal, Cebu.

Becaldo and Pepito, who won the BVR Ilocos leg last May, defeated the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF)-B 21-12, Far Eastern University (FEU) Alumni 21-14 and Iloilo 21-19 for the lead in Group A with a 3-0 (win-loss) card. In the quarterfinals, they will face Group D second placer (2-1) Ralph Savelano and Jonmar Saguilon of Bacolod.

“We have to trust ourselves and never forget to trust teammates,” said the soft-spoken Becaldo who is expecting tougher opponents in the next few rounds.

Not to be outdone is the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Team A duo of Kent Jay Verbosidad and Alastair Gairanod who also swept their three assignments beating University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) 21-13, Dipolog 21-12, and Malaysia 21-19 to arrange a quarters meeting against University of St. La Salle (USLS).

Other quarterfinalists include FEU’s Kevin Hadlocon and Jeremiah Barrica who will play Malaysia-A and National University’s Bryan Bagunas and James Natividad who will take on FEU-Alumni.

Women’s winners

In the distaff side, reigning Cebu Schools Athletics Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Therese Ramas and Floremel Rodriguez of Siaton showed why they are the hottest toast in Cebu beach volleyball as they sneaked past USJ-R – Team A 21-13, 21-18 and USPF-B 21-16, 21-12 to set up a quarterfinal duel with JRC Dipolog

Also moving to the Last 8 is the Redline duo of Jusabelle Brillo and Chona Gesulga who defeated USLS 21-11, 21-19 and Team Perlas 20-21, 21-18 to take on Tata Woodcraft.

Meanwhile, the Team Perlas duo of Charo Soriano and Bea Tan locks horns with USJ-R Team B for a semis slot while USJ-R Team A takes on Negros.

The games in the men’s division were played in single sets while the women’s winners were determined by adding the scores of their two-set matches with the duo having the higher total score ending up as the victors.

Today’s quarterfinal battles start at 7 a.m.