Reigning UAAP women’s champion National University headline the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Beach Volleyball Invitational organized by Beach Volleyball Republic which started on Saturday (Dec. 14) at Nuvali Sand Courts in City of Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Season MVP Honey Grace Cordero will have Kizil Doren Quijote, who was the Lady Bulldogs’ third player during their recent UAAP title run, as her partner in the two-day tournament.
NU will face a familiar foe in University of Santo Tomas, as Sofiah Pagara and Khy Progella are looking to make up for their championship defeat last month.
The Tiger Sands will actually field in two teams as Grithney Dadang, who was their third player after Pagara and Progella in the UAAP, will team up with Angelica del Mar.
In the men’s division, Sky Gemarino, who paired with Alex Iraya in the Bulldogs’ UAAP runner-up finish, will have Wayne Dionela as his partner in the year-end, double-gender competition.
Gemarino and Dionela will face a stacked field led by Air Force’s Ranran Abdilla and James Buytrago.
Also competing is UAAP Season 86 high school boys third placers UST led by John Michael Lagaran and Lance Malinao.
Completing the women’s cast are University of the Philippines’ Julia de Leon and Kryssia Mae Omos, NU-Nazareth School’s Vilmarie Toos and Faith Mangyao, Team Negrense’s Bea Tan and Alexa Polidario, College of Saint Benilde’s Doreen Baguio and Shandara Baba, Lyceum of the Philippines University’s Stacey Lopez and Monna Sherina Bañares, and Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Alessandra Razonable and Elizza Anne Alimen.
In the men’s side are UP’s Christian Pitogo and Angelo Lipata, and Jonathan delos Santos and John Luis Immanuel Toroto, Benilde’s Leonard Jaboli and Kevin Ondevilla, and James Marasigan and Mark June Rosales, Jose Rizal University’s Paolo Barrientos and Aris Carbon, EAC’s Paul Justine Say and John Ruther Abor, and Aljhan Apdian and James Paul Apdian, Arellano University’s CJ Dominguito and Joshua Datu, and UP-Los Baños’ Emerson Espejo and Charles Berosil are also competing for the title.
