The Southwestern University (SWU) Spiking Cobras had a sensational debut as they foiled the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in the Cebu School’s Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) men’s volleyball tournament Wednesday night at the Aznar Coliseum.
The Cobras found themselves in several tight spots all throughout the game but with a partisan crowd egging them on, coupled with their own sheer determination, the wards of head coach Dave Arreza were able to climb their way out of it to register the 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 win.
Volleyball action continues today in the men’s division as SWU, the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) all gun for lead in the standings.
USJ-R, fresh off its monumental 25-16, 25-21, 25-17 win over the reigning champions University of San Carlos (USC), will be taking on the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) while SWU takes on USPF.
USPF is also at 1-0 (win-loss) after it beat last season’s runners-up University of the Visayas, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21, yesterday.
In the girls’ division, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu debuted in style as it upended UC, 14-25, 26-24, 25-19.
Playing in the shadows of their more accomplished women counterparts, the Cobras are raring to make a name for themselves this season.
They took steps towards attaining that feat in showing the resiliency to come back from a dire, 21-23, deficit in the opening set. After tying the game at 23-all, Catmon-native John Romo rose up high for a thunderous spike attack that gave SWU set point. Dave Cabaron then finished it off with a crafty tip.
The second set was equally as exciting as UC crawled to within a point, 22-23, off a nice drop shot by Evan Sevilleno. However, SWU showed their killer instincts and took the second set after two straight points from John Carascal.