Reigning girls’ champions Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) will look to erase all doubts following a less-impressive debut as they go up against the University of San Carlos (USC) in the Cesafi girls’ volleyball tournament today at the USC gym.
Although the Magis Eagles started the season with a straight-set victory over newbie Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU), their defense proved to be a weak link in their opening match as they allowed the Stallions to score 21 points in the second set after limiting them to just eight in the first.
As they look to gain a share of the lead in the standings together with the University of Cebu (2-0), coach Mario Sala said the team’s defense needs to be better.
“Primarily, the team needs to improve its coordinated overall defense. The team also needs to show maturity and determination to apply their acquired skill level every time they are given opportunities,” Sala said.
Also searching for its second win in as many games are the Southwestern University (SWU) – Phinma and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), which scored straight set victories in their respective girls’ matches last Sunday.
SWU will wage war against the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) at 8 a.m. while USJ-R will look to slow down the much-improved University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF), which finished third in the Shakey’s Girls Volleyball League last June.
Currently leading the girls’ standings is UC, which sports an immaculate 2-0 (win-loss) card after registering wins over USC and CEC last weekend.
In the boys’ division, UC will look to ride the momentum following its upset win over the defending champions USPF as it takes on Cebu Institute of Technology – University while SHS-AdC goes up against SWU-Phinma.
Also in boys’ action, the Don Bosco Technological Center will look to start their season right when it battles the winless CDU while USJ-R eyes its second straight win when it clashes with last year’s losing finalist USC.