Kirstin Louise Ojeda of USPF attacks the net defense of SWU in their championship game in the Inter Private Volleyball tournament at the University of San Jose-Recoletos Basak open gym.
It pays to think positive.
This Kirstin Louise Ojeda proved when she led a strong University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) fightback to lead the team to a 25-22, 23-25, 25-20 victory over Southwestern University (SWU) en route to bagging the high school girls title of the 3rd Inter Private Schools Cup Volleyball Tournament yesterday at the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Basak Open Gym.
Ojeda, a 15-year-old middle blocker, came up big late in the game as she scored eight points in the third set alone to help the Baby Panthers pull off a monumental upset against SWU, which won two titles in the Cesafi in the past four years.
“I was just thinking about positive things,” Ojeda said. “I really wanted us to win the title.”
After a see-saw battle in the first two sets, the Baby Panthers, who went winless in the Cesafi last year, found themselves down 1-7 in the final set. But USPF clawed back via a 15-9 run capped off by a thunderous spike by Ojeda to tie the game at 16.
The Baby Panthers finished off SWU with another 9-4 blast highlighted with an ace by Tracy Cortes.
Moments after the victory, USPF mentor Yolanda Rizarri said she still couldn’t believe with what the squad just accomplished.
“I’m very happy right now. I’m having goosebumps. This team is like a diesel, you have to run it every time so that they can work together inside,” said Rizarri, who won her first title as a head coach.
Meanwhile, the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-ADC) Magis Eagles salvaged the third place honors by defeating the home squad USJ-R Jaguars, 25-21, 19-25, 25-13.
In other games, the Colegio del Sto. Niño went on to snag the elementary girls title after finishing at the top of their division with a 4-0 (win-loss) record while the SWU boys volleyball team pocketed the high school boys crown after ending the elimination round with a 5-0 card.