USC sweeps crowns

The University of San Carlos had a windfall of titles as they swept the Cesafi volleyball championships in the collegiate division after their men’s team defended their title with a win over the University of the Visayas and their women’s squad upset the three-time reigning champions Southwestern University in the winner-take-all finals games yesterday afternoon at the USC gym.

The spotlight shone brightly on the belles of USC as they took advantage of a seemingly listless SWU squad, which was aiming for a fourth straight title.

The Lady Cobras drew first blood as they won the first set, 25-22, but disaster struck in the second set as they got jumped with USC zooming off to a 12-6 lead.

Making matters worse, the Cobras lost Nerissa Villanueva to an ankle injury during that stretch.

That set off a domino effect, the likes of which SWU did not recover from, as USC went on to win the next three sets, 25-13, 225-20, 25-23, to claim the crown.

The “strong six” of head coach Norvie Labuga were stellar in their attacks as Chona Gesulga, Suzette Panis, Kara Evangelista, Metosheena Bate, Irish Cortes and Theresa Aranas all pitched in commendable performances.

The cherry on top of the sundae for USC came later in the afternoon as the men’s team also bucked a first-set loss to destroy UV, 25-27, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15.

The trio of star spiker Kennith Bensig, Clyde Flores and Mark Abut did the most damage in keeping UV from claiming its first crown since 2004.

USJ-R RULES SECONDARY BATTLE

In the high school division, the University of San Jose-Recoletos claimed both the boys’ and girls’ titles.

The boys team upset the reigning champions University of Southern Philippines Foundation in dominant fashion, 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 while the girls team survived SWU in a five-set thriller, 26-24, 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 15-6 to repeat as champions.