UNDER PLEASANTLY sunny weather in the midst of the unforgiving August rains, the Blue and Lady Beach Spikers kicked off their campaign against UP and UE, respectively, on August 28 at UE Caloocan.

Despite a slow start in the first set, the Ateneo Lady Beach Spikers won their opening match 21-18, 21-17 against their Katipunan rivals. Trailing 12-15 in the first set, the Ateneo Spikers’ clawed their way back in the game via an unreturned serve by Asia Urquico, giving them a marginal 16-15 advantage. The two teams exchanged leads for the remainder of the set but Ateneo was able to pull away 21-18, capturing the first set with a spike by Sharah So.

In the second set, the Ateneo Lady Beach Spikers took control. While UP took a momentarily lead at 6-7 and at 11-12, Ateneo’s service game seemed too much for UP to handle. A missed UP serve tied the game at 12-12 and So scored five straight points—three of them off her serve—granting Ateneo a 17-12 lead. The ladies in Blue were on cruise control from then on, eventually winning the set and the match, because of an error by UP.

Meanwhile, the men’s team did not fair as well as their lady counterparts. Playing under the scorching midday sun, the Blue Beach Spikers succumbed to UE 21-19, 21-12.

Although Ateneo trailed most of the time, the first set was a tightly contested affair. The UE beach Spiker’s biggest lead was only four points at 8-12 and 13-9. Towards the end of the set, Ateneo had a chance to tie the game at 19-19 but a costly error prevented them to do so. JP Pareja spiked a point to bring them back within one, but a powerful UE smash ended the first set 21-19, in favor of the Red Warriors.

The second set was lopsided as compared to the first. Though the Blue Spikers kept it close in the opening of the set, the UE Beach Spikers started to pull away with a five point lead. Ateneo showed signs of a comeback by cutting the lead to three with a difficult off-balance get by Gelo Caancan, but UE’s efficient use of drop-shots and their ability to force errors paved their way to victory.

Beach volleyball action continues on August 29 (Sunday), as the Blue and Lady Beach Spikers face UP and Adamson, respectively.

Other game results:

Women’s Beach Volleyball

AdU def DLSU 21-9, 22-20

UE def NU 21-8, 21-19

FEU def UST 15-21, 21-19, 15-10

Men’s Beach Volleyball

UST def UP 21-11, 21-11

FEU def AdU 21-14, 22-20