THE University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Spiking Panthers gained a share of the top spot in the standings as they swept past the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) in straight sets in the 2013 Cesafi men’s volleyball tournament last Monday at the University of San Carlos gym.
Led by the high-flying Edmar Bonono, the wards of head coach Clifford Café barely broke a sweat as they foiled CIT-U, 25-10, 25-21, 25-17. The win was their fourth in as many games and tied them with the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Spiking Jaguars for the lead in the rankings.
In the other game, last year’s runners-up University of the Visayas (UV) evened its record out at 2-2 (win-loss) after scrapping past the University of Cebu (UC) in a pulse-pounding, five-setter.
UC actually drew first blood, 25-22, but UV, behind the power spiking of the towering Nestea beach volley national champion Mike “The Wall” Abria, took the next two, 25-18, 25-18.
UC fought back to tie the game at 2-2 with a 25-12 win in the fourth set. However, UV proved to be too much as Mark Fernandez combined with Abria to get the Spiking Lancers the 15-9 win in the fifth and final set.
Both UV and UC are now tied in the standings with similar 2-2 records.
Meanwhile in the boys’ division, defending champions USJ-R kept its unbeaten streak going as it won its fourth in a row with a thrilling 26-24, 25-22 decision over the pesky Don Bosco.
USJ-R leads the league with a 4-0 mark while Don Bosco fell to 1-3. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio