Lady Cobras, Lady Warriors dispute lead

REIGNING title-holders Southwestern University (SWU) Lady Cobras and the University of San Carlos (USC) Lady Warriors have won their first two assignments to share the lead in the Cesafi women’s volleyball standings.

Today, they put their immaculate record on the line as they meet at the USC main gym.
There is bad blood of sorts between both teams as SWU’s controversial loss to the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Lady Jaguars in the round-robin semifinals last year, doomed the championship hopes of the Lady Warriors.

The game drew heavy mileage online as USC team captain Debbie Gamboa vented her frustrations on Facebook, saying that the Lady Cobras intentionally gave that game away.

A win by SWU would have put the Lady Warriors in the finals. But because SWU lost, USJ-R took the last championship seat against the Lady Cobras. SWU eventually won the crown.

“Kasakit man lang jud sa dughan. We may [have] won our game against USPF earlier but still SWU gave USJ-R the chance to defeat them. Okay, it’s part of the game,” Gamboa posted on her Facebook page last season.

Aside from the brewing rivalry, the game will also be big for both teams since the winner will need only one more victory to secure a spot in the playoffs.

Also in the women’s division, USJ-R shoots for its second win in three games against the Cebu Doctors’ University Lady Stallions while the University of Southern Philippines Foundation Lady Panthers and the University of Cebu Lady Webmasters battle each other for their first win.

In the men’s division, the USC Warriors aim to solidify their grip of the lead as they go up against UC while USJ-R takes on the winless Cebu Institute of Technology-University.