By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The Alas Pilipinas Men’s Beach Volleyball Team A fell short of winning the Beach Volleyball Republic (BVR) on Tour Sipalay leg crown, losing to the New South Wales Phoenix of Australia in the finals at Poblacion Beach in Negros Occidental’s Sipalay City on Sunday, June 23.

The tandem of Ranran Abdilla and AJ Pareja failed to sustain their strong second set performance and suffered a 21-13, 17-21 and 15-12 loss to the taller Killian Donovan and Jett Graham in the gold medal match.

After dropping the opening set, Abdilla anchored Alas Pilipinas A’s strong performance in the second set for a 21-17 victory, forcing a deciding third frame.

Australia surged ahead early in the third set, but Alas Pilipinas A responded with a run to cut the deficit to 12-13 before Donovan and Graham scored the last two points for the visiting team.

Donovan and Graham overpowered Cebu’s Samlet Booc and Micael Marabe, 21-10, 21-8, in the semifinal round, while Abdilla and Pareja made quick work of University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Aldwin Gupiteo and Dominique Gabito, 21-15, 21-11.

Gupiteo and Gabito reached the podium on the men’s side by sweeping Booc and Marabe, 21-13, 21-15.

Meanwhile, UST Golden Tigresses’ Sofiah Pagara and Khy Progella completed a perfect run in the women’s division after defeating National University Lady Bulldogs’ Honey Grace Cordero and Kat Epa, 21-18, 21-13.

Except for a part of the first set where the Lady Bulldogs turned a 0-5 deficit into a 16-15 lead, it was an all-Golden Tigresses show to repeat over their UAAP rivals and complete an undefeated run in the two-day competition.

In the semifinal round, Pagara and Progella upended Strong Group Athletics’ Gen Eslapor and Euri Eslapor, 21-17, 21-16, while Lady Bulldogs Cordero and Epa prevailed over Pontevedra’s Erjane Magdato and Perper Cosas, 18-21, 21-14, 15-7.

Magdato and Cosas later defeated the Eslapor sisters, 28-26, 21-19 and 15-13 to secure the bronze medal finish./ASC, WDJ