The USJ-R Jaguars celebrate after winning the Cesafi men’s volleyball title. | Photo from Christian Dave Cuizon
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Veteran volleyball coach Roldan Potot proved that he’s a force to be reckoned with after a three-title finish in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) volleyball tournament.
Potot completed his dominant campaign in the Cesafi volleyball after sweeping the men’s best-of-three finals series against the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors on Saturday, February 3, at the USC Main Campus Gymnasium.
The Jaguars swept the series, 2-0, on Saturday, two months after he won the Cesafi high school boys and girls division titles last December.
In their second meeting, the Jaguars blanked the Warriors, 25-20, 25-20, and 25-19, proving that their Game 1 victory in the Cesafi men’s volleyball wasn’t a fluke, according to Potot.
“Gidungog gyud sa kahitas-an akong pag-ampo nga makuha ni namo nga title. Grabe among sakripisyo ug trabaho para makab-ot ni namo ang kadaugan,” said Potot.
Potot’s Lady Jaguars, who were the Cesafi volleyball 2022 champions, finished with a bronze medal last January 28 after beating the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Lady Wildcats, 25-15, 18-25, 22-25, 25-15, and 15-10.
“Kampante gyud kaayo ko sa akong mga players nga mo champion mi. In fact, nagpa print ko daan ug champion’s t-shirt, pero wala gyud nako gisaba nila, bisan sa akong assistant coach. Dili ko gusto nga mag huna-huna sila daan nga machampion mi, mao nga gi-sekreto nako nila,” Potot revealed.
“Dako kaayo ko ug pagsalig sa akong team nga modaog mi. Amo gyud gipaningkamotan nga ma straight sets namo sila para ma prove namo nga dili gyud to chamba among daog sa Game 1. Maong proud kaayo ko sa akong mga players.”
During their game on Saturday, the Jaguars were relentless from both sides of the court, heavily relying on the offensive prowess of Jade Andre Briones, Erico Blazo, and Abraham Mahumot.
USJ-R was leading throughout the match. They easily sealed the second set with Blaza disrupting USC’s set plays with his serves, while Mahumot and Briones’s attacks were virtually unstoppable.
In the third set, USJ-R led as many as seven points, 17-10, their biggest in the match, courtesy of Ryan Enojo and Briones.
However, the Warriors showed some fight by cutting the huge deficit to just one, 18-19, after USJ-R suffered a series of unforced errors.
Still, Potot’s Jaguars remained composed despite USC’s huge comeback after scoring five straight points, 24-19, with Blaza leading the charge.
USC only scored when Blaza’s serve was caught on the net.
Mahumot sealed the third set with an empathic attack that was virtually left undefended, 25-19, to win the Cesafi men’s volleyball title.
Blaza was named the “Most Valuable Player” (MVP) for leading the Jaguars with his ace serves and excellent offense.
Six of the Jaguars players, including Blaza, also earned individual awards. Besides his MVP plum, Blaza was named the best opposite spiker.
Chris Pastor (best middle blocker), Ed Vincent Flores (best setter), Francis Gabuay (best libero), and Enojo (best outside hitter) were the other individual awardees for USJ-R.
USC’s Paul Simoun Barro was named the second-best middle blocker, and CIT-U’s Juvic Colonia was the second-best outside hitter.
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