UST, Beda rule BVR youth tilt
SANTA ROSA, Laguna—University of Santo Tomas and San Beda University captured the premier titles in the inaugural Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) Youth Tournament presented by Grid Athletic on Sunday at the Nuvali Sand Courts.
San Beda’s Bea Udarbe and Kirsten Diamoda swept the girls’ Under-18 division, while UST’s JM Lagaran and Lance Malinao ruled the boys’ U18 competition in the two-day tournament aimed at developing young beach volleyball talents.
Udarbe and Diamoda completed a perfect six-match campaign with a 21-9, 21-8 victory over fellow San Beda pair Shainnah Gubac and Nieva Tamayo in the girls’ U18 final.
The tandem topped pool play before eliminating AP6X’s Princess Manuat and Moira Dizon in the quarterfinals and NU-DutchBoy’s Jojie Obeñita and Kiesha Illut in the semifinals.
Lagaran and Malinao also finished unbeaten, winning all five of their matches capped by a 22-20, 21-14 victory over NU-DutchBoy’s Ethan Jadraque and John Emanuel Roda in the boys’ U18 final.
The UST pair, members of last year’s UAAP Season 87 high school beach volleyball champions, swept pool play before advancing past UPAC Riders’ Terrence Yeung and Kian Kless in the semifinals.
UST also claimed the girls’ U14 title as Karlyn Progella and Jeshylle Sulampid completed a 5-0 campaign with a 21-6, 21-10 win over Core’s Rheanna Silva-Netto and Daniel Reyes.
NU-DutchBoy’s Alaiza Candelario and Julia Carungay took the girls’ U18 bronze medal by defeating teammates Obeñita and Illut, 21-7, 21-17, while another UST pair, Wensjuban Cadayona and Bon Morillo, secured third place in the boys’ U18 division.
NETX B’s Zanthe Abling and Selene Madamba finished third in the girls’ U14 category.
A total of 17 teams competed in the inaugural tournament, with eight in the girls’ U18, four in the boys’ U18 and five in the girls’ U14 divisions as BVR continued its grassroots development program.
