The University of Santo Tomas (UST) swept the titles in the 19th Nestea Beach Volleyball tournament held in Boracay.
UST’s women’s tandem of Jem Gutierrez and Cebuana Cherry Rondina defeated the University of Mindanao-Tagum (UM-T) in the finals, 21-4, 21-14, while the men’s team defeated a tired University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) side, 21-11, 21-18, to take the crown on Saturday.
Back-to-back aces by Rondina clinched the women’s crown anew for the Tigresses, who also won the same title last year.
The reigning Cebu Schools Athletics Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) champions Jaguars, meanwhile, put up a gallant stand but still lost to the Tigers in the finals.
Coming off a tiring 32-34, 21-17, 16-14 win over fellow Cebuano team Southwestern University (SWU) of Alden Dave Cabaronand Rommel Pepito in the semis round, the Jaguars pair of Kent Jay Verbosidad and Alastair Ian Gairanod seemed to have lost steam in the finals, failing to recover from a slow start en route to a straight-set loss.
USJ-R played better in the second as it trailed by just three, 15-18, late in the set but the Tigers managed to finish off the Jaguars with crucial hits down the stretch.