RANRAN Abdilla and Jesse Lopez of AboitizLand did all sorts of a fightback and completed a turnaround in the third set to win another crown in the men's division of the Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) On Tour at the pristine beach of Sante Fe, Bantayan Island on Sunday, March 24.
Down 10-5 in the deciding third set, Aboitizland looked like it was on its way to lose to the University of St. La Salle (USLS) of Bacolod City. But the BVR Puerto Gallera leg champion dug deep in their back of tricks and used its experience in perfection to sneak out with 11-21, 21-16, 15-13 win.
Aboitizland staged a telling a 10-3 run after calling for time to erase the 10-5 deficit and eventually snatched the win from Herold Parcia and Deanne Depedro of USLS. It was the second title for AboitizLand in the span of two weeks after winning the Puerto Gallera leg last March 9 and 10.
AboitizLand had to win the second set to force a decider after USLS drew first blood.
On the other hand, it was not the day for Cebuanos as Team Visayas of Jade Becaldo and Kevin Juban fell short in the semifinals against Philippine Air Force, 35-33, 21-18.
Becaldo and Juban also yielded to National University's (NU) Pol Salvador and James Buytrago , 21-18, 21-19 in the battle for third.
Raphy Abanto and Fortunato Libres of Team Visayas 2, the second Cebuano team to make it to the quarterfinals, had the same fate with a straight set loss to NU, 21-17, 21-15, in the quarters.
The Philippine Air Force duo of Mary Ann Pantino and Jozza Cabalsa, meanwhile, won third place with a straight sets win over Bianca Lizares and Margie Señas of USLS, 21-16, 21-13.
The women's final between NU and Team Perlas was being played as of this posting. (RSC)