THERE’S nothing fancy or endearing about the University of the Visayas (UV), yet it has glowed to be one of the teams to watch out for in the Cesafi men’s volleyball tournament.
Hard work and determination is UV’s key to success so far.
The team finished third last year and suffered a major blow during the offseason after learning that former captain Jojo Noval and veteran Ian Pacinio have already exhausted their playing years last season, which resulted for the team to make Esmundo Gabito its new skipper.
But that didn’t matter as the Green Lancers put up a rosy performance this year, being the only unbeaten team in their division with a 3-0 (win-loss) card so far.
And the team credits it to their chemistry and devil-may-care attitude on the court.
The Green Lancers scored a stunning victory over last year’s runner-up Southwestern University (SWU) in their season-debut before surviving the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and the University of Cebu (UC) to move a win away from making it to the semifinals.
However, assistant coach and former Green Lancer Jade Becaldo believes the team hasn’t reached its maximum potential yet as all of their wins are four-set thrillers.
“We’re just lucky in our three games. I guess I’m still not contented with their performance. Our victories the past games are the result of their training and hardships. Credit [should be given] to the team,” Becaldo said.
But the road is about to get rough for UV as it takes on the defending champions University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) this Saturday.
With this, Becaldo is hoping his wards would give it their all.
“My job is to push them to their limits and make the best out of them and we’ll try to win.”