Thursday, April 03, 2008 Arthro beats USC for semis spot in beach volley
THE Arthro Kontra Arthitis duo of Maritess Natad and Christine Rose Bohol survived a surprisingly gritty University of San Carlos, 25-23, to secure a spot to the semifinals of the second M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala All-Ladies Beach Volley Open over the weekend at the Wiggy’s Beach Resort in Liloan.
Natad and Bohol faced a surprisingly hungry USC duo of Jeremie Montalvo and Kimberly Ybanez and had to make sudden changes to dispel their stubborn foes to snatch a slot to the crossover semifinals after finishing at second place in their bracket.
Artho finished the elimination round with a 5-1 win-loss record, good for second place against top team Southwestern University-A’s Janelle Tabio and Florianne Gutierrez.
Perfect record
Tabio and Gutierrez secured the top spot of their bracket after ending their elimination round with a clean 6-0 sweep, concluding it with a 25-2 thrashing of Abellana National School’s Krizia Ann Talacero and Jackelyn Crisostomo.
The semifinalists for Bracket B may be known already, but the ranking in the other bracket remains in total disarray as four teams are still hanging on to slim hopes of making it to the semifinals.
This Sunday, first-time beach volleyball contenders, Jessa Satina and Lorie May Layno of SWU-B, will play University of Southern Philippines Foundation’s Ericka Verano and Herlene Ybarita in the most crucial game in the elimination round.
It is a must-win for SWU Team B to remain in contention. If it wins, it will figure in a three-way tie with top gunners University of the Visayas’ (UV) Jusabelle Brillo and Janez Armie Igot, who are the defending MLSDF champs and Nestea beach volley national winners and with University of San Jose Recoletos’ (USJ-R) Michelle Simbajon and Genie Sabas. The USJ-R pair is the champions of the inaugural Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. beach volleyball competitions.
If this happens, the Olympic quotient system will be used to determine the two teams that will move on to the next round. (MCB)
