Mitch Suba of USJ-R tries to keep the play alive in a Cesafi juniors beach volleyball game against Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu at the SWU Sand Courts. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON).
The girls’ beach spikers of Southwestern University (SWU) and University of San Carlos’ (USC) boys team kept their title-retention bid alive as they advanced to the knockout semifinals of the Cesafi beach volleyball tournament yesterday at the SWU Sand Courts.
The reigning secondary champions Baby Cobras duo of Crisley Sucalit and Wella Ortega dug down deep at their championship experience and rallied from seven points down in the second to nip the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) pair of sisters Chriszelle and Krizzia Caasi, 21-18, 21-19, in a rematch of last year’s girls’ finals.
Not to be outdone, the USC duo of 2015 Most Valuable Player Gwyndharell Guy and Jay Tadatada picked up four wins over the weekend, beating the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF), 21-13, 21-14, University of Cebu (UC), 12-21, 21-15, 16-14, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC), 21-11, 21-16, and SWU, 21-15, 21-11.
With the wins, both USC and SWU have 4-0 (win-loss) records in the standings and are assured of seats in the semis.
SWU looks to finish its elimination round campaign on a high note when it battles SHS-AdC and USPF on Friday.
USC’s boys’ team also has two more games set on the same play date. It takes on USJ-R and Cebu Eastern College (CEC).
Magis Eagles’ first win
USC’s girls’ team, meanwhile, tied USPF at the second place with identical 3-1 (win-loss) cards after escaping UC 21-14, 15-21, 15-11. It is now a win shy from booking a ticket in the semis.
SHS-AdC’s girls’ team, on the other hand, logged its first ever win since joining the league just this year as it dominated the winless CEC, 21-8, 21-11.
In men’s collegiate action, defending champions USJ-R Spiking Jaguars gained the needed momentum heading into their much-awaited encounter with last year’s losing finalist SWU Spiking Cobras after thrashing the UC Webmasters, 21-17, 21-14.
The Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT-U) kept its tournament hopes alive by eliminating the win-less Webmasters, 21-19, 21-18.