Asian University Beach Volley: UST’s Banaticla, Caballejo advance

MANILA, Philippines – All-Filipino bets in the 2nd Asian University beach volleyball clinched quarterfinals berths with separate straight set victories Thursday in Cha-am, Thailand.

University of Santo Tomas’ Maru Banaticla and Judy Caballejo made short work of Malaysia-2, 21-13, 21-11, to finish second in their bracket after the group stages.

Banaticla and Caballejo, who wound up behind Thailand-1 who swept its elimination assignments, face a dangerous Kazakhstan for a semifinals berth.

La Salle-Dasmariñas’ Jennifer Manzano and Monique Tiangco, meanwhile, defeated Syria late Wednesday for a second place finish in their respective group.

Manzano and Tiangco also have to overcome a tough contender in China to advance further in the competition, which started out as 19 teams.