THE UNIVERSITY of Southern Philippines-Foundation’s (USP-F) boys and men’s divisions squads solidified their bid to reach the championship round as they logged impressive wins in the semifinals of the 2013 Cesafi volleyball tournament last Wednesday night at the Aznar Coliseum.
The Baby Panthers went through the eye of the needle before eventually vanquishing the defending champions University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars in a three-set encounter, 22-25, 26-24, 33-31.
Their senior counterparts, on the other hand, were pushed to the hilt but showed tremendous fortitude in beating last year’s runner-up, the University of the Visayas (UV).
The teams battled neck-to-neck in the first four sets, splitting them, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 22-25. But USP-F found its second wind and plowed under its opponents in the deciding set, 15-6, to win the game and gain headway in this mad dash to reach the finals.
The top two teams at the end of this single round-robin semis will advance to the winner-take-all finals. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio