WENSH Tiu and April Ross Hingpit of Cignal B and Bea Tan and Pau Soriano of Foton Hurricanes arranged a semifinal encounter yesterday in the PLDT Home Ultera Philippine Superliga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup 2015 powered by Smart Live More.
Tiu and Hingpit, playing together for the first time on the sand, refused to get affected by the elements as they trounced Meralco’s Jem Gutierrez and Jusabelle Brillo, 21-14, 21-18, in the rain-marred match at SM By the Bay in SM Mall of Asia.
When the weather cleared, Tan and Soriano turned back Petron XCS’ Gretchen Ho and Charo Soriano, 21-12, 18-21, 15-7.
Cignal B and Foton Hurricanes will fight for a slot in the final later last night against the winners of the two other quarterfinal matches pitting Foton Tornadoes against Philips Gold and Amy’s against Gilligan’s.
In men’s action in the morning, Champion Infinity B of Marjun Alingasa and Tippy Tipgos, and SM By the Bay of Jade Becaldo and Hachaliah Gilbuena downed their respective opponents to set a finals duel in the tourney backed by Accel as official outfitter, Senoh as official equipment and Maynilad.
Champion Infinity B stopped Cignal A of Sandy Montero and Edmar Bonono, 21-23, 22-20, 15-10, while SM By the Bay routed Centerstage of Rence Melgar and John Carlo Lozada, 21-13, 21-16.
“Fortunately for us, most of the time it rained when we practiced,” said the 24-year-old Tiu, one of the head-turners in the tourney. “The more important thing is that we tried to enjoy and have fun in the rain.”
The rains came as Cignal B posted a 9-3 lead in the opening set, but Meralco kept the match close with Brillo, a beach volleyball veteran from the Visayas, and newcomer Gutierrez keeping their defenses up.
But there was no stopping Tiu, who played beach volley for La Salle-Dasmarinas before suiting up for the Lady Archer in indoor play, and Hingpit who took the first set with seeming ease.
Brillo and Gutierrez took a 4-2 lead in the second set when the match was halted on account of thunder and lightning. The match resumed after 20 minutes and Meralco padded its lead to 7-4.
But Cignal B came back to take the lead at 19-17 Cignal B lead before Hingpit slammed a service ace for the match.