THE SPIKERS of the Southwestern University (SWU) did it again.
This time, it was SWU’s men’s beach spikers that came up big as they bagged the beach volleyball title of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) after defeating the resilient University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) in the finals yesterday at the SWU sand court.
Just a day after claiming the championship in the Central Visayas leg of the 10th Shakey’s Girls V-League, SWU added another trophy to its case as the pair of Rommel Pepito and Relan Taneo came back from an opening set setback to down USPF’s John Ylanan and John Tormis, 19-21, 21-17, 15-12.
Making the feat even more impressive was the fact that this was the first time that the men’s team of SWU joined the beach volleyball tournament.
SWU has a chance to add another crown as its women’s team of Danika Gendrauli and Rapril Aguilar battle the USPF trio of Apple Saraum, Rochelle Rica and Neslie Aloyan today for the women’s championship.
It was a tough road towards the crown for SWU’s men’s team as the pair had to hurdle the University of San Jose-Recoletos’ Owen Belen, James Asingua and Jade Illiut, 27-25, 21-12, in the semifinals earlier in the day.
In the finals, USPF outlasted SWU in a tight first se thanks to an out-of-bounds error by the latter and a spike attack by Ylanan, which gave the Panthers the first set. However, SWU regrouped in the ensuing set and led 20-15, after a maze of errors by USPF. Pepito sealed the set win with a crafty spike down the middle that sent the match to the winner-take-all third set.
There, the two squads went back and forth until SWU took a 13-10 lead after a thunderous spike by Taneo and an attack by Tormis that went wayward. USPF crept to within one, 12-13, but SWU regained its bearings and finished the game off with a tap-in by Taneo and a reception error by USPF.
UV BOOTED OUT
USPF was able to make it to the finals by registering the upset of the tournament.
The Panthers upended the tournament favorites and previously-undefeated University of the Visayas pair of Mike Abria and Mark Fernandez in three-sets, 16-21, 21-19, 15-13.
Seemingly uninterested in claiming third place, UV fell to USJ-R, 19-21. 24-22, 15-11.
SWU’s women’s team downed the University of Cebu’s Stephanie Morales, Joelyn Suquid and Jonalyn Labra, 21-10, 21-10 in the semis while USPF beat the University of San Carlos’ Chona Gesulga, Anna Capinpin and Irish Cortes, 17-21, 21-13, 15-9 in the other semis pairing.