Rommel Pepito and Jade Becaldo celebrate their victory with UV head coach Raffy Briones.
john carlo villarual
Any team winning a crown in the Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) can tell you how difficult it is to reach the top. To win two legs in a row is nothing short of impossible.
But yesterday, the Liloan Redline duo of Jade Becaldo and Rommel Pepito did just that, winning back-to-back titles after crushing the National University (NU) pair of Bryan Bagunas and James Natividad, 26-24, 21-18 to grab their second consecutive BVR men’s title at Basdaku White Beach in Moalboal, southwestern Cebu.
The Cebuano duo, who won the BVR men’s title in Ilocos last May, found NU a tough nut to crack in the opening set as they found themselves tied at 24-all with the relentless Bulldogs. But Becaldo hammered a service ace then forced NU to commit an error in the next play to win the first set.
“I did not expect us to win here because my goal was just to play with all my heart,” Pepito said.
And heart the Liloan Redline duo showed as they overcame a 10-8 deficit midway in the second set before finishing the game on a 13-8 run to pocket the men’s title.
“We are very thankful that God gave us the championship because we worked really hard to win it,” said Becaldo
Women’s champs
Not to be outdone was the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) tandem of Alexa Polidario and Erjane Magdato who pulled off a close 21-19, 21-17 victory over the Siaton duo of Floremel Rodriguez and Therese Rae Ramas in the women’s final.
“I think we won because of our teamwork, understanding and communication inside the court,” said Magdato Meanwhile, Charo Soriano and Bea Tan of Team Perlas settled for third place in women’s play after beating Redline, 21-17, 22-20 while the University of San Jose-Recoletos eke out a 16-21, 21-16, 15-12 victory to defeat Team Malaysia in their men’s battle for third.
The champion team pocketed P50,000 while the second and third placers took home P25,000 and P15,000 respectively.
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