UST’s Banaticla, Caballejo near Asian Uni beach Volley quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines—University of Santo Tomas standouts Maru Banaticla and Judy Caballejo moved closer to the quarterfinals of the 2nd Asian University Beach Volleyball Championship after a convincing win over Korea—21-13, 21-15—Wednesday in Cha-Am, Thailand.

Banaticla and Caballejo—bearing the country’s colors this time, two months after nabbing the UAAP women’s beach volley title—needs another win to get to the top 8.

In the opener, the Filipina bets downed Laos-1—21-9, 21-17—but yielded to Thailand-1—12-21, 8-2— in the afternoon session.

The seasoned duo, both ended their college career with an MVP, though, are the best-performing Filipino duo in the four-day tournament.

The Philippines’ other representatives—Jennifer Manzano and Monique Tiangco—tote a 1-1 record.  The La Salle-Dasmariñas mainstays beat Laos-2 in the opening day, but lost to Thailand-2 on Wednesday.

Nineteen teams were divided into four groups and the top two teams to emerge after the group stages will advance to the knockout quarterfinals.