Negrense weaving wonder in Subic

ABANSE Negrense A and B made heads after sweeping pool action to secure the top spots heading into the knockout quarterfinals of the 2021 Gatorade-philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup on Saturday at the Subic Bay Freeport sand courts.

Alexa Polidario and Erjane Magdato powered Abanse Negrense A to a 21-4, 21-7 rout of Kennedy Solar Energy-petrogazz’s Arianne Alarcon and Christina Canares for a three-match sweep of Pool A of the bubble tournament held in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Central Luzon.

Abanse Negrense B’s Jennifer Cosas and Gelimae Villanueva also swept Pool B after taking down Toby’s Sports’s Jonah San Pedro and Javen Sabas, 21-11, 21-9, in the in the event that has Cherrylume, ube Express and Subic bay Peninsular Hotel as sponsors and Cocolife, Cocogen Insurance, Data Project and Genius Sports as technical partners.

“We’re happy that both Abanse Negrense teams are showing the great talents of players from Negros occidental as a team and as individuals,” Magdato said.

Polidario said that the challenge is how to sustain their momentum.

“We hope to sustain this kind of performance until the end of this tournament,” she said.

Sta. Lucia teams, menwhile, bounced back from tough losses on Friday afternoon to seal the No. 2 spots in their respective pool.

After a tough 21-6, 14-21, 11-15 loss to Abanse Negrense B late Friday, Sta. Lucia A’s DM Demontano and Jackie Estoquia vented their ire on united Auctioneers Inc.’s Ella Viray and Theresa Ramas, 21-13, 21-14, to finish with a 2-1 win-loss record in Pool B.

“We exerted more effort because we fell short in our last game,” Estoquia said. “We have to do whatever it takes in the quarterfinals. We have to be patient and bring out our best efforts because it’s a knockout game.”

Sta. Lucia B, on the other hand, leaned on Jonah Sabete’s scoring prowess and Bang Pineda’s excellent plays to beat F2 Logistics’s Jenny Senares and Kyla Gallego, 21-14, 21-13.

The Abanse Negrense squads fought for semifinal slots on Sunday with Magdato and Polidario battling Pool B cellar-dweller Toby’s Sports while Cosas and Villanueva clashing with Kennedy Solar Energy-petrogazz.

Pineda and Sabete also eyed a semifinals berth against Pool B third placer united Auctioneers as well as Demontano and Estoquia, who took on F2 Logistics in the knockout quarterfinals also on Sunday.