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UV, Cebu beach volley teams vie in Visayas tilt By Jonas Panerio Cebu Daily News Posted date: February 15, 2008 Defending women’s national champions University of the Visayas will defend its title along with four other Cebu-based schools when the Visayas qualifying rounds of the 12th Nestea Beach Volleyball Tournament gets underway in April at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City. The UV pair of Jusabelle Brillo and Janez Igot will try to claim a second straight national crown while last year’s other finalists, the Southwestern University Cobras, will also return with revenge as their main mission with former national champion Florianne Gutierrez and Janelle Tabio at the helm. The latter paired with Maritess Natad last year, but lost to UV in the final. Meanwhile, Cebu volleyball powerhouse University of San Jose-Recoletos is still unsure whether to send a team in the women’s division because of schedule conflicts with the National PRISAA in Zamboanga. Other Cebu teams participating in the beach volleyball bonanza are University of San Carlos and the University of Southern Philippines. The Visayas qualifying round will be on April 8-10. Winners will advance to the national semifinals and finals in Boracay on April 24-26. The national champions in their respective divisions will bag P150,000 while runners-up will get P75,000 and P40,000, respectively. Other teams slated to participate in the eliminations are Colegio Purisima Concepcion, Foundation University, Iloilo Doctors College, University of Iloilo, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, University of St. La Salle-Bacolod and the University of San Agustin. Men’s division champions Mindanao State University will also defend its crown against 71 other squads from all over the country. The Mindanao eliminations will be on March 4-6 at the Tagum Beach Volley Dome at the Rotary Park in Davao while the Luzon eliminations will follow on March 25-27 at the Island Cove Hotel and Leisure Park in Cavite. The Luzon roster will be led by inaugural champion University of Santo Tomas along with Adamson University, Letran College, College of St. Benilde, De La Salle-Dasmariñas, defending UAAP champion Far Eastern University, Lyceum, PATTS College of Aeronautics, Philippine Christian University, St. Francis of Assisi College, St. Jude College, St. Louis University, San Beda College Alabang, San Beda College, University of Baguio, University of the Cordilleras, University of Luzon, University of the Perpetual Help-Dalta and University of the Philippines-Diliman. Battling it out for finals slots in Mindanao are Agusan Institute of Technology, Ateneo de Davao University, Capitol University, Holy Cross of Davao College, Jose Maria College, Maharlika Institute of Technology, MSU-Marawi, MSU-Tawi-Tawi, Tawi-Tawi Regional Agricultural College, University of Mindanao-Tagum, Universidad de Zamboanga, Xavier University and MSU.