THE defending champions University of San Carlos (USC) Baby Warriors and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars (boys) arranged a title showdown after they trampled separate opponents yesterday in Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) volleyball tournament at the USJ-R Gym.
The Baby Warriors kept alive their title-retention bid by pulling off a 21-25, 25-23, 27-25 win over the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) Baby Panthers.
USP-F raced to a 9-1 lead early in the third set but USC ignited a spirited comeback to tie the game at 23-all.
The Baby Warriors finally surged ahead, 26-25, and escaped with the win when a USP-F attack went out-of-bounds.
It was a hotly contested match that after the loss, USP-F head coach Jayson Gabales charged to the committee table to complain about some calls.
“Next time i-let go nalang ta ang ubang calls,” said Gabales.
The Baby Jaguars, on the other hand, had an easy time disposing of the DBTC Baby Greywolves, 25-15, 25-12.
The Baby Jaguars and the Baby Warriors take on each other today in a finals preview. USC bested USJ-R in their first encounter, 25-22, 27-25.
In the girls’ division, USC secured its second win in three games by trashing Cebu Eastern College (0-3), 25-5, 25-5, while Southwestern University (4-1) bounced back from a previous loss by tripping USP-F Panthers (2-2), 25-19, 25-11.
In the women’s division of the collegiate action, the defending champions SWU Lady Cobras started their campaign with a 25-22, 22-25, 25-10, 23-25, 15-10 triumph over the USP-F Lady Panthers (0-1).
The men’s competition gets going today with the Warriors taking on the Panthers.