MOTIVATED with the presence of their team manager Brian Jereza, the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) boys and girls’ teams chalked up victories that shoved them to the semifinal round in their respective divisions of the F2 Logistics Cesafi volleyball tournament at the USPF gym.
The reigning boys’ champions USPF kept its title-retention bid alive by pulling off a 25-17, 25-21 triumph over the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) on Saturday to clinch the last semifinal spot and join the University of San Carlos (USC), University of Cebu (UC) and the Southwestern University (SWU) – Phinma in the next round.
“Yes, we are pressured to defend the title but we will just do everything we can to give a good performance for the school and the management,” said USPF head coach Cecil Jotojot.
The Jereza charm worked into perfection for the second time later in the afternoon as the USPF girls’ team survived SWU-Phinma, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, to clinch the third semifinal berth.
“We still have to practice more. We coaches, really need to call the attention of our players and tell them they’re doing a good job,” said USPF girls mentor Yolanda Rizarri.
Despite the loss, SWU-Phinma still made it to the semifinals after finishing in third with a 4-2 (win-loss) slate just behind USPF’s 4-1 and top-seeded University of San Jose-Recoletos’ 5-0 record.
Meanwhile, the USPF women’s team won via default against the Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU), but its men’s team fell to the University of the Visayas (UV) 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22.