Photo caption: From left, Krisca Detalla Cosmod, Marifel Rupinta and Frenzie Marie Batulan of the SWU-Phinma Lady Cobras beach volleyball team. | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—After two long years away from playing together, the Southwestern University-Phinma Lady Cobras (SWU-Phinma) made their return to competitive beach volleyball action with a bang.
The Lady Cobras made their comeback memorable by topping the women’s division of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) beach volleyball tournament last May 1, 2022, at the Fort San Pedro beach volleyball court here.
SWU-Phinma, a known powerhouse in the sport, defeated the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Lady Panthers, 21-15, 21-16, in the championship match.
The team is comprised of Krisca Detalla Cosmod, Marifel Rupinta, and Frenzie Marie Batulan, all of whom trained separately during the COVID-19 break.
“It feels so amazing that volleyball tournaments are back after two long years,” said Cosmod.
Cosmod revealed the challenges she and her teammates had to go through due to the COVID-19 pandemic that halted sports activities for quite some time.
“Before the competition, we joined different tournaments separately and this is our first beach volleyball tournament together as a team. Even though we only had three days of practice, we were still able to take our time to get along with each other and it really helped us to develop our connections and communication,” she said.
Cosmod said she is very proud that despite the lack of preparation, they managed to pull off the win.
For Rupinta, getting back to the hardcourt was already something worth cherishing.
“To be honest, it felt nice that I was chosen to represent the team in Cesafi among all the players of our volleyball team. It was a great opportunity for me to play for the team, and of course, to play beach volleyball again. We slowly adjusted to the new normal by playing small tournaments consistently leading to the Cesafi,” said Rupinta.
Meanwhile, the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters topped the men’s division by beating the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, 21-18, 21-18.
A total of 11 pairs from six Cesafi member schools competed in the two-day beach volleyball tournament that marked the return of Cesafi’s ball games after two years of absence due to the pandemic.
The regular season of Cesafi’s ball games, including the beach volleyball tournament, is tentatively slated on September.
/bmjo
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Cesafi beach volleyball opens Sat at Fort San Pedro