TWO unlikely teammates, Foton’s Cherry Rondina and Patty Orendain, became the first pair of spikers to reach the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Philippine SuperLiga Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup at the Sands SM By The Bay on Saturday.
Playing under the Foton banner, they hacked out two straight wins in Pool C, first with a quick and easy 21-3, 21-7 triumph over Accel Quantum Plus’ Aileen Abuel and Princess Listana.
Then, they were awarded with a default win over Mapua’s Shaira Hermano and Niella Ramilo. made their day.
The Mapua bets withdrew on the first day, allowing Orendain and Rondina to reach the next round.
Orendain, who reached the finals last year and settled for runner-up honors with Fiola Ceballos, found Rondina’s style of play to her liking.
“Hindi kami masyadong pagod. Nakaka-recover kami agad,” said Orendain after they quickly took an 18-point lead in the first set against Abuel and Listana.
Rondina, who placed fifth for University of Santo Tomas in the recent UAAP spikefest, learned fast on a deep surface of the MOA sand court and helped Orendain control the pace of the the game with her drop shots from the net.
Two of her frontline attacks allowed Foton to take a 15-7 lead.
“Mas malalim ang buhangin. Mahirap, pero na-push namin ang mga sarili namin,” said Rondina.
Meanwhile, highly favored RC Cola-Army A of Jovelyn Gonzaga and Nene Bautista turned back Far Eastern University-Petron’s Bernadeth Pons and Kyla Atienza, 19-21, 21-16, 15-13, in the opener of their Pool D campaign.
Pons and Atienza, who were last season’s UAAP runner-ups, ended the day with a 1-1 win-loss record after they started their bid with a 21-14, 21-12 victory over Meralco’s Jona San Pedro and April Ross Hingpit.
Standard Insurance-Navy A’s Norie Diaz and Pau Soriano got off to great start in in Pool A following a 21-18, 22-22 verdict over RC Cola-Army B’s Genie Sabas and Jeannie de los Reyes.
In other matches, RC Cola-Army B’s Sabas and De los Reyes prevailed over University of the East’s Angelica Dacaymat and Jasmine Alcayde, 21-18, 21-13, for a 1-1 card in Pool A.
Petron XCS’ Aiza Maizo-Pontillas and Sheila Pineda walked over Mapua’s Hermano and Ramilo in Pool C, while Maica Morada and Frances Molina of Petron 4T downed Standard Insurance-Navy B’s Florence Madulid and Pau Genido, 21-17, 21-14.
San Pedro and Hingpit then bounced back with a 13-21, 21-18, 15-10 triumph over Cignal’s Vhima Condada and Mary Grace Berte to improve at 1-1 in Pool D.