Bautista, Laborte Petron beach volleyball champs

CLARKFIELD, Angeles City — National team mainstay Nerissa Bautista and veteran campaigner Sheryl Laborte lived up to expectations, beating Lorna Dela Cruz and Chariza Castro, 21-14, 21-9 in the finals to top the third leg of the Petron Ladies Beach Volleyball Tournament at the Clearwater Country Club here.

Bautista used her long limbs and her 5-foot-10 frame to the hilt to make an intimidating presence at the net while Laborte relied on her quickness in defending their fort.

The two were in tandem for the first time in the Petron volley competition, but this posed no problem as they are already familiar with each other, having clashed against each other in various events in the Visayas.

"Magkakilala na kami dahil nagkakalaban na kami Visayas events. Nag-decide kaming magsama kasi iyung teammate ko nasa probinsiya pa," said Laborte.

Castro and Dela Cruz showed serious contention early in the game, even leading at 2-1 and drawing level at 4-4 in the first set.

But it was only a matter of time before Laborte and Bautista gained momentum as they raced to an 8-4 lead on the latter’s back-to-back service winners. The closest Dela Cruz and Castro could get after that was at 10-9 before committing a maze of errors that pushed the Laborte-Bautista pair ahead at 14-9.

The second set proved to be a one-sided show even further for Laborte and Bautista, who raced to a 7-1 lead en route to claiming the P10,000 top prize and the champion’s trophy of this tournament sponsored by Speedo (official outfitter), Gatorade, Action N Fitness Magazine and Asian College of Science and Technology.

Dela Cruz and Castro settled for the P5,000 prize and the runner-up trophy.