Height is might: 6-foot-3 John Carascal helps SWU advance to finals anew

SWU’s John Eduard Carascal towers over his USC opponents at the net in yesterday’s Cesafi men’s semifinals at the USC Main gym. Carascal had crucial plays down the stretch to help the Cobras defeat the Warriors (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON).

At six-feet, three-and-a-half inches tall, Southwestern University’s (SWU) John Eduard Carascal is one of the tallest players in the Cesafi men’s volleyball tournament.

Yesterday, Carascal used this to his advantage as the Bantayan, Cebu native pulled off some defensive stops in the end to help the SWU Cobras defeat the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, 25-16, 25-22, 25-23, in their semis encounter at the USC Main gym.

The 20-year-old Carascal stepped up late in the third as he scored four kills and blocked three attacks for a total of seven points to lead the Cobras to victory and more importantly to their third straight finals appearance.

SWU finished the single round-robin semis in second place with a 2-1 (win-loss) record. In the finals, they will face the University of San Jose-Recoletos, who finished on top with a 3-0 card.

“Communication, teamwork and defense were what I saw from my players,” multi-titled SWU mentor Dave Arreza, who is aiming for a rare grand slam in the league, said.

Arreza also reminded his players prior to yesterday’s game to stay focused, especially since they were coming off a loss to USJ-R) the day before.

“I told them to just relax because they were too eager against USJ-R,” Arreza said.

SWU hopes to exact revenge against the Jaguars when both teams battle in a best-of-three finals series starting Nov. 19.

Battle for third

The Jaguars swept the semis after defeating the ousted University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, 26-24, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17.

The Green Lancers, who failed to win a single game in the semis, face the Warriors (1-2) in a battle-for-third game on Saturday.