Valdez, Ateneo beat La Salle to keep beach volley bid going

Alyssa Valdez and Ateneo kept their UAAP beach volleyball bid going after downing De La Salle, 21-16, 24-22, Saturday to extend their semifinals duel to a deciding game at Sands SM By The Bay.

The duo of Valdez and Bea Tan finally beat the tandem of Kim Fajardo and Cyd Demecillo to foil the Lady Spikers’ plans of making an early Finals return.

Ateneo and La Salle clash for the last time this Season 78 on Wednesday at 8 a.m. with the winner facing Far Eastern University’s Bernadeth Pons and Kyla Atienza in a best-of-three championship showdown later in the day.

La Salle hopes to make its second finals appearance in a row while Ateneo aims to earn its first title berth since 2011.

Valdez, the top volleyball star in the country today, has yet to win a beach volleyball crown.

In the men’s division, University of Santo Tomas made its way to the finals after beating No. 2 National University and Far Eastern University in the stepladder semifinals.

The third-seeded Growling Tigers, made up of Kris Guzman and Anthony Arbasto, dethroned the Bulldogs’ pair of Madzlan Gampong and Bryan Bagunas, 21-14, 17-21, 15-11, in the first encounter before hacking out a 19-21, 22-20, 15-11 win in the do-or-die.

UST also needed three sets to boot out No. 4 FEU, 21-13, 17-21, 15-13, in the first stepladder match.

The Tigers now face a seemingly insurmountable task of toppling the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ duo of Marck Espejo and Ysay Marasigan, who own a thrice-to-beat advantage, in the title round also set on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.