Caption: Mary Jane Igao (7) of USC puts up a block against Dyan Darantinao (17) of SWU-Phinma during their CESAFI women’s volleyball match at the USC Gym (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).
USC Warriors lead men’s field with 3-0
The University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors men’s and women’s volleyball teams experienced contrasting fates yesterday in the CESAFI volleyball tournament in front of their home fans at the USC Main Gym.
While their men’s squad survived the gritty University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in a grueling five-set battle, 19-25, 25-9, 25-21, 24-26, 15-9, the Lady Warriors fell to a powerhouse rival heavily favored to win the crown this season.
The hard-earned win put the Warriors just one win shy of securing s semifinals ticket in the men’s division as they now lead the standings with a clean, 3-0 (win-loss) card. UC dropped to 0-1 (win-loss).
However, things went south for the Lady Warriors as they absorbed a heartbreaking straight sets loss to defending champions Southwestern University (SWU) Lady Cobras, 19-25, 22-25, 18-25.
SWU raced to a, 12-6 start in the opening set highlighted by Nathalie Gimeno’s powerful spike that squeezed through two Lady Warrior defenders.
Gimeno together with Dyan Darantinao and Sheena Quiño continued to provide the offensive spark for SWU in the second set as they combined for 12 points on a critical 16-11 run by the Lady Cobras when USC threatened, giving them a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Warriors, however, did not go down without a fight in the third, as they roared to a 12-6 start.
That however, wasn’t enough to bring USC back into the thick of things as the Lady Cobras unloaded a 19-6 bomb behind team captain Therese Rae Ramas, Janelle Cabahug and Necca Dela Llana for the comfortable win.
Also in the women’s division, the USJ-R Lady Jaguars routed the Cebu Doctors University (CDU) Lady Stallions, 25-18, 25-17, 25-8 while the USPF Lady Panthers finally broke into the win column with a bruising, 25-12, 25-11, 18-25, 25-16 triumph over UC.