UAAP beach volleyball: UST deals Ateneo its first loss

UAAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Defending champion University of Santo Tomas ended Ateneo’s three-game unbeaten run in the UAAP Season 84 men’s beach volleyball tournament as Efraem Dimaculangan and Rancel Varga got the better of Abai Llenos and Amil Pacinio, 21-14, 21-19, on a gloomy Saturday at Sands By The Bay.

Licking the wounds of their opening day loss to National University, Varga and Dimaculangan vented their ire on their two opponents, including University of the Philippines’ Daniel Nicolas and Louis Gamban, 21-19, 21-16, in the morning session.

The Tiger Spikers dominated the Blue Eagles in the first set and brought the momentum in the next frame with a 17-13 lead. But Llenos and Pacinio trimmed it to a one-point deficit twice, 17-16 and 20-19, before Dimaculangan drilled the match-clinching attack for UST.

UST improved to 2-1 tied with NU in third place.

“We got two wins because we were able to lessen our errors this time,” said reigning beach volleyball MVP Varga, whose teammate Jaron Requinton, a two-time SEA Games bronze medalist, is listed as third player.

Ateneo still holds the early share of lead with a 3-1 record after Llenos and Pacinio dealt La Salle’s first loss with a 21-16, 21-18 victory over Noel Kampton and Vince Maglinao.

Kampton and Maglinao bounced back right away with a thrilling 25-23, 19-21, 15-11 win over Far Eastern University’s Jelord Talisayan and Vincent Nadera in a match that lasted for one hour and three minutes for the share of 3-1 lead with Ateneo.

Meanwhile, NU’s James Buytago and Pol Salvador edged UP’s Nicolas and Gamban, 19-21, 21-19, 15-9, for their second straight win in three games.

FEU got its first win as Talisayan and Nadera defeated Adamson University’s Ned Pacquing and Francis Casas, 21-10, 21-19.

The Tamaraws and Fighting Maroons sport 1-2 and 1-3 records, respectively, while the Falcons remained winless in three matches.

Action resumes Sunday with the morning session between Adamson and De La Salle, NU and Ateneo, and FEU and UST. In the afternoon, it will be UP against Ateneo, Adamson, and UST, and NU against FEU.