Region VII (Central Visayas) capped off its title defense in the Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) National Collegiate Games with a bang as its volleyball teams came out victorious in their respective finals games yesterday in separate venues.
Reigning Nestea National Beach Volleyball champions Mark Anthony Fernandez and Mike Abria of the University of the Visayas (UV) scored a repeat over Region XI’s University of Mindanao-Tagum’s (UM-T) Daryl Kim Lapiz and Jeffy Amora with a 13-21, 21-12, 15-10, victory in the finals at the beach volleyball court of Southwestern University (SWU).
“I can’t believe that in our first season in the Prisaa, we would emerge on top,” said Abria. The UV tandem also defeated the UM-T duo in the semis of the recent Nestea national tourney in Boracay, which paved the way for the title victory against fellow Cebuano team University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R).
The powerhouse SWU Lady Cobras, the three-time Cesafi volleyball champions, also finished their Prisaa stint on a high note as they defeated Region XI, 25-22, 14-25, 25-19, 25-13, in the finals of indoor volleyball at the Aznar Coliseum.
The win allowed Central Visayas to break a 10-year drought in volleyball.
“We had a great performance this year and we are very glad that we made Region VII a champion in volleyball again,” said SWU head coach Jordan Paca, who was awarded the best coach of the tournament.
Paca said his wards will next focus on the Shakey’s V-League tournament in Manila, where they will be going up against some of the best teams in the country. They will be leaving for the country’s capital today.
“We are hoping to be in the top four in the Shakey’s V-League,” Paca said.
SWU’s April Aguilar was named the Most Valuable Player in volleyball while teammates Danika Gendrauli and Maria Abigail Praca were named best receiver and best blocker, respectively.
BASKETBALL GOLD
While the volleyball teams had an easy time disposing their foes, Region VII narrowly escaped Region IV-A’s (Calabarzon) University of Batangas in the championship of men’s basketball competition, 97-96, in overtime at the Cebu Coliseum.
Bryan Heruela of University of Cebu (UC) had 15 for Region VII and was named MVP. Sam Hermosa of the University of San Carlos (USC) led Central Visayas with 28 points in the finals. It was the first title in basketball for Central Visayas.
Another first for Region VII was its championship victory in football. Booters from the University of San Carlos (USC) towed Central Visayas to victory via a 3-2 decision over Region XII in the finals. Scorers for USC were Folkhanes Antony (2) and Joseph Rodriguez.
NETTERS SHINE
Region VII’s tennis team contributed five more golds to finish off with a total of 15 gold medals in the week-long meet at the Baseline tennis courts.
USC’s Sally Mae Siso and USJ-R’s Kennex Abadia were named MVPs in lawn tennis. Bobby Soquino and Manuel Cinco were also named best coaches.
Region VII failed to sweep the volleyball titles after its men’s team lost to Region IV-A, 29-27, 19-25, 21-25, 20-25.
Still, Jayson Uy of Region VII was declared best Libero while teammate Edward Ybañez was named best blocker. Region IV-A’s Abdilla Alnakran was named the MVP of the tournament.
Despite the failure of men’s volleyball, Region VII still easily defended its national crown as it finished with 117 gold medals, 44 silvers and 41 bronze medals.
GOLD BREAKDOWN
Swimming produced the most number of gold medals for Central Visayas with 20 while 16 came from badminton. Lawn tennis had 15 golds, athletics had 13 while football and table tennis each had 11 golds. Central Visayas’ volleyball team contributed six golds, basketball had five, while four golds came from boxing, chess and dancesports. Region VII got three more golds from beach volleyball and karatedo and two from taekwondo.
“Their performance was very satisfactory,” said Fr. Vic Uy, the National Prisaa president. “We just hope that we will maintain this kind of performance in 2013.”
Uy said the next goal for Central Visayas will be a grandslam bid in the 2013 meet in Pangasinan.
Region VI (Western Visayas) finished second with a record of 59-52-54 (gold-silver-bronze). Day one leader Region IV-A settled for third with a tally of 49-41-43.
Prisaa executive director Elbert Atillano said Cebu hosted the annual multi-sporting event very well.
“There were no complaints. All I heard was positive comments,” said Atillano. “For me, this is the perfect hosting I have seen so far.”