Gen Eslapor and Kly Orillaneda gave Australia’s Tara Phillips and Elizabeth Alchin a scare before bowing, 16-21, 15-21 on Saturday, April 6, in the round of 16 of the Smart Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open.

The two lady spikers from the Air Force went toe-to-toe with the powerful Australians at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land in the City of Santa Rosa, fighting until the last second of the 37-minute match under a searing midday sun.

Both 24, Eslapor and Orillaneda teamed up only this year and said they simply focused on their game against the more experienced Australians.

“We entered this tournament with no expectations and are quite pleased with the result,” Eslapor said. “Steadily we are improving our partnership and our individual skills.”

Orillaneda said they are glad to perform well, especially because she joined Eslapor in training just under a month ago because she is stationed in Davao.

“I’m very pleased but at the same time, I know I could do better, so I vow to raise my game for the next tournament.

That next event is the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour-Futures starting this Thursday also at Nuvali.

Iran’s Abdolhamed Mirzaali and Abolhassan Khakizadeh also overcame a scare from the Philippines’ Ran Abdilla and AJ Pareja, 20-22, 15-21, to advance to the men’s quarterfinals of the event backed by Foton, Akari, Mikasa, Senoh, Seda, Asics, Cignal, One Sports, One Sports+ and Pilipinas Live.

Abdilla and Pareja threatened to take the opening set, putting the spectators at the showcourt on the edge of their seats.

“That would have been a big momentum shift,” said Pareja, a physician who joined the national beach volleyball team only recently.

The 31-year-old Pareja rued not being able to keep up when the Iranians upped the pressure.

“I was being the target throughout the match, and there were times that I was slowing down. That’s something I need to work on,” Pareja said.

James Buytrago and Rancel Varga also bowed out with a bang, with the more experienced Indonesian duo of Bintang Akbar and Sofyan Efendi, 17-21, 18-21 in a 38-minute match.

Thailand’s Tipjan Pithak and Taovato Poravid beat Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Yakovlev and Sergey Bogatu, 29-27, 17-21, 16-14, while Yusuke Ishijima and Kensuke Shoji of Japan routed Nurdos Aldash and Kirill Gurin of Kazakhstan, 21-17, 21-14, in the tournament organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation led by Tats Suzara.

Australia’s D’Artagnan Potts and Ben Hood waylaid Japan’s Kosuke Fukishima and Hiroki Dylan Kurokawa, 21-18, 21-9, while Abbas Pourasgari and Alireza Aghajanighasab of Iran slid past Hong Kong’s Wong Puilam and Lau Cheukyin, 21-18, 21-15.

Surin Jongklang and Dunwinit Kaewsai of Thailand overcame China’s Li Zhuoxin and Liu Chuanyong, 21-19, 21-17.

Australia’s Paul Burnett and Jack Pearse recovered from a slow start to eliminate Indonesia’s Danangsyah Pribadi and Yosi Firnanda, 19-21, 21-16, 15-10.

In other women’s Round of 16 matches, Japan’s Asami Shiba and Saki Maruyama ripped Macau’s Leong Onieng and Law Wengsam, 21-15, 21-8, while Australia’s Jasmine Fleming and Georgia Johnston defeated Patcharaporn Seehawong and Samitta Simarongnam.

Indonesia’s Desi Ratnasari and Nur Sari slid past Laura Kabulbekova and Nadezhda Ivanchenko, 22-20, 19-21, while Japan’s Suzuka Hashimoto and Reika Murakami routed New Zealand’s Katie Sadlier and Meile-Rose Green, 21-11, 21-14.