SWU-Phinma out to reclaim men’s crown

THE SWU-Phinma Spiking Cobras.
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Cesafi volleyball

A cloud of uncertainty suddenly developed when the Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma men’s volleyball team saw its title-reign come to an end last year against the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) and four of its six starters were no longer eligible to play in the 2017 Cesafi season.

The Spiking Cobras bid goodbye to erstwhile captain Royet Varga, Carl Alivio and Jewel Cabahug, who exhausted their playing years in the league last season. They also lost high-flying rookie Jude Amper, who migrated to Australia last year.

The absence of the four was suddenly felt by SWU-Phinma as it barely survived the surprising Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), 26-24, 27-25, 25-20, in their opening game this season and lost to the University of the Visayas (UV) in the next game.

But everything changed since that loss to UV as they caught fire and chalked up five straight wins, including a round-robin semis triumph over old tormentors USJ-R last Sunday to make it back to the championship round for the third consecutive year.

As they wait for the winner of the USJ-R–CIT-U semifinal match, SWU-Phinma mentor Dave Arreza stressed that the team needs to improve their mental preparation to avoid another colossal collapse.

The Spiking Cobras will close out their round-robin semis campaign against UV in a non-bearing game this Saturday.

“They need to push more their fighting spirit because they tend to relax. We don’t have problems going for the kill,” said the two-time Cesafi champion tactician Arreza.

Asked on who he wants to face in the finals, the former Spiking Jaguar Arreza said that they have no preference and will take on anyone as they look to redeem themselves from last year’s finals loss.

Whether it’d be the Spiking Jaguars or the Wildcats, only one thing is absolute, the Spiking Cobras are here to reclaim their lost glory.