IN a sport often overshadowed by basketball in this cage-crazy country, several young Cebuanos have made quite a name for themselves in the field of volleyball and beach volleyball.
Foremost among these spikers are ex-University of the Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) Panthers beach volleyball aces Edmar Bonono and Edward Ybañez, who arguably among the top two players not only in Cebu but in the country as well.
As a testament of their superior talents in the sport, Ybañez and Bonono are included in the Cebu City men’s beach volleyball team bound for the 2015 South East Asian Zonal Olympic Qualifiers on April 4 in Thailand.
Bonono and Ybañez, veterans of several local, national and international competitions, are set to receive recognition for their accomplishments when the 2014 Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC)-San Miguel Beer (SMB) Sports Awards on March 31 at the Ayala Activity Center.
Also set to receive their own recognitions in the affair is the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) elementary girls volleyball team. Manned by the mighty Catmon elementary school spikers, they won the gold medal in the 2014 edition of the Palarong Pambansa in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
Others who will be recognized are Matthew Gabriel Navace of the Subangdaku Elementary School, who won the Most Outstanding Athlete for volleyball in elementary boy’s division during the Milo Little Olympincs National finals; Justine Dorog and Ma. Lina Isabel Molde of Catmon, who were recruited by Hope Christian School in Manila before making it all the way into the roster of the Philippine Girl’s Youth team in the 10th Asian Girls Under-17 Volleyball Championship.
Bonono and Ybañez, for their part, will be cited after bagging the men’s division championship title of the 17th Nestea Beach Volleyball’s “Battle of Champions” last May 3, 2014 at the Boracay Beach Chalets in Station 2 in Boracay.
Ybañez and Bonono, donning the Cebu City men’s beach volleyball team jerseys, also made it into the Round of 16 in the 4th Asian Beach Games beach volleyball last Nov. 19, 2014 in Phuket, Thailand after defeating Pakistan, 21-10 and 22-20, for their third win in five outings in Pool F.
In the national scene, Bonono and Ybañez powered the Cebu City Niños beach volleyball team to a championship finish in the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)-Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Philippine National Games 2014 last May 24, 2014 in Manila.
Bonono and Ybañez were also on board when Cebu played in the last five international events, placed second in the Olympic Zonal tournament, 5th in the Southeast Asia Championships and 7th in the Asian Beach Games. Pooled Report