Lady Jaguars come back from 2 sets down to beat Lady Panthers, retain Cesafi women’s volleyball title
The USJ-R Lady Jaguars retain their Cesafi women’s volleyball title with a 5-set thriller against USP-F Lady Panthers today, Dec. 18. | Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines —The University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Lady Jaguars stormed back from a 0-2 start to beat the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) in a grinding five-set showdown to defend their Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) women’s volleyball title on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, at the USP-F gym.
The Lady Jaguars of head coach Roland Potot put on a huge comeback to finish the match with the scores of 21-25, 27-29, 25-19, 25-23, and 15-12.
“Ako na lang gyud giingnan ang mga bata nga kung gusto sila moduwa sa fifth set, among kuhaon ang third ug fourth set. Sayang kaayo among gitrabahuan naabot nami og championship unya mobigay na lang mi. Mao to akong giingon nila,” said Potot.
(I just told the children the if they want to play the fifth set, we have to get the third and fourth set. It would be a waste of what we worked for if we reached the championship and then we give way. That is what I told them.)
“We were two sets down, ako sila giingnan nga wala pa nahuman ang match until naabot na ta sa match point. Kumbati lang gyud ta,” said Potot.
(We were two sets down, and I told them that the match is not yet finished until we reach match point. So then we will continue to fight.)
The USP-F Lady Panthers are the 1st runner up of the Cesafi Women’s Volleyball after they failed to beat the USJ-R Lady Jaguars for the championship title during their game this Sunday, Dec. 18. | Glendale G. Rosal
The Lady Jaguars had a cold start in the championship match after the Lady Panthers won the first two sets, as the latter capitalized mostly on their errors.
With the Lady Panthers leading 2-0, the Lady Jaguars came alive in the third set with relentless attacks and sealed it 25-2.
They tied the match, 2-2, with a back-and-forth battle in the fourth set, 25-23, to proceed to the deciding set.
In the deciding set, the Lady Panthers led 5-3, but the Lady Jaguars quickly retaliated to tie it at 5-all and built a three-point lead, 11-8, from their attacks.
USP-F of multi-titled coach Yolly Rizarri was plagued with unforced errors, which widened the gap and sealed their fate against the Lady Jaguars.
“Expect gyud mi nga lig-on ang USP-F kay ang mga players ana nila gikan pa gyud na sa high school. Nakontra na namo sa high school. Nagabot mi ana since high school pa. Ang mga players nako daghan pa og bag-o pa,” said Potot.
(We were expecting the USP-F to be strong because their players came from their high school. We have played with them in high school. We already met them while in high school. My players on the other hand are mostly new ones.)
Spiker Louneth Marie Abangan, a former Cesafi high school MVP, leads the Lady Jaguars’ attacks and is named the “Most Valuable Player.”| Glendale Rosal
For Potot, this title will be very special for him since it’s his first stint as the women’s team head coach.
Potot, the head coach of the USJ-R Lady Jaguars’ high school team, earned his first title with the women’s team after being assigned as the new head coach starting this season.
Spiker Louneth Marie Abangan, a former Cesafi high school MVP, led the Lady Jaguars’ attacks and was named the “Most Valuable Player.”
The rest of the Lady Jaguars’ roster is composed of Alyssa Bernadeth Emboy, Dianne Mae Duazo, Pamela Sumayang, Cherry Sumayang, Daniva Shielo Aying, Yvette Bejec, Jay Debie Fuasto, Dawn Tamayo, Icy Ponce, Kristel Anne Ocariza, Jessa Tionzon, Dianna Grace Jamandron, and Dharlyn Jhale Pis-an.
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