Bohawe, Siatan rule Petron beach volley

Veterans Jennifer Bohawe and Patricia Siatan plastered the duo of Gamela Ann Septo and Lou Maranon, 21-17, 21-9, to rule the 2003 Petron Ladies Beach Volleyball Championship at the Island Cove Resort and Leisure Park in Binakayan, Kawit Cavite.

Bohawe’s booming spikes and Siatan’s versatility proved too much against the Septo-Maranon tandem as the San Sebastian College pair, teaming up for the first time, completed a five-game sweep in the two-day volleyfest sponsored by Petron.

Volts Sports Management executive director Tisha Abundo and Island Cove Sports and Recreation supervisor Mercy Reyes presented the P10,000 top prize plus an elegant glass trophy to the San Sebastian pair.

"It was fun," said Bohawe, who teamed up for the first time with Siatan, an alumna of the same school. "We weren’t expecting this, because we never really had the chance to play together in the past. Talagang dito na lang kami sa tournament nag-jell ng husto."

Septo and Maranon, who are from the Philippine School of Business Administration, took home the P5,000 runnerup prize in the volley meet, which has Island Cove Resort and Leisure Park as major backer. Iruma, which is distributed in the Philippines by Ever Industries, is the official ball.

The PSBA pair actually set the tone of the match early in the best-of-three finals and even led, 10-6 on an ace by Septo. But Bohawe’s timely volleys near the net sparked a rally that had the SSC players grabbing the lead at 11-10 en route to the first set win.

It was an all-SSC show in the second set.

A bigger Petron beach volleyball tournament is being prepared by Volts late this month.

"This volleyball tournament by Petron has lots of promise in many ways," said Abundo, who is a former Commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. "The enthusiasm showed by all the participants is enough reason for us to push through with the program in the very near future."