ALAS Pilipinas stood its ground against China in a war of attrition, 22-20, 22-20, in the Rebisco Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open to reach the quarterfinals on Friday in the City of Santa Rosa in Laguna.

Khylem Progella and Sofia Pagara overcame tense moments against China’s top pair of Yan Xu and Zhou Mingli to secure a place in the round-of-eight at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts By Ayala Land.

In an error-plagued endgame where they wasted match points with four consecutive service errors, Progella and Pagara managed to pull off impressive plays to regain control and eventually put away the top Chinese pair.

“We had trouble finding the mark on serve when trying to close them out. No excuses but the heat was too much,” Progella said.

The young spikers from University of Santo Tomas—Progella is 19 and Pagara 20—showed poise against Yan and Zhou, who have the fourth-highest rating in this field, registering three block points against none by their rivals.

Progella and Pagara led by as many as four points in the first set and had to rally from four down in the second.

“They can become a little emotional during these tough situations, but they come through,” said Alas Pilipinas’s Brazilian beach volleyball coach Joao Luciano Kiodai.

“I think we are still chasing our best, and I think this is good, we need it for future matches. And this is important, that we are able to win even when we didn’t play our really really really best,” Kiodai said.

Progella and Pagara take on Australia’s Elizabeth Alchin and Georgia Johnson, the second-highest ranked team in the tournament, for a place in the semifinals.

Alchin and Johnson beat Thailand’s Samitta Simarongnam and Salinda Mungkhon, 19-21, 21-13, 15-10.

Alas Pilipinas’ top pair in men’s play had a foot in the next round when James Buytrago and Rancel Varga seized the opening set and held the upper hand midway through the second against New Zealand’s John McManaway and James Sadlier.

The Filipinos faded in scorching heat, however, and wound up forfeiting the match as Buytrago could not continue due to cramps, with the score at 33-35, 18-21, 6-13.

“It’s super hot, for any athlete it would be hard to handle that heat. You feel tired and you feel the pain more. Then the cramps happen, but it is what it is. That is the sport. That’s beach volleyball,” Kiodai said.

Two Alas Pilipinas women’s pairs also bowed out at the Round of 16 stage, with Alexa Polidario of the Air Force and Lorien Gamboa of the University of Santo Tomas dispatched by Japan’s Saki Maruyama and Miki Ishii, 21-12, 21-10.

It was a short first stint with Alas Pilipinas for Sunnie Kalani Villapando, who played Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association, as she and Philippine Coast Guard’s Jenny Gaviola bowed to Japan’s Asami Shiba and Reika Murakami, 6-21, 15-21.

Villapando, who played for Stanford before joining University of Southern California on her fifth year in college, is eager to get back in action and deliver for the Philippines.

“This won’t be the last. We’ll be training and competing, we’re looking forward to the Southeast Asian Games.”