SWU stuns USPF

THE Southwestern University (SWU) secondary girls volleyball team showed experience—or the lack of it--isn’t always a factor.

The SWU team, composed mostly of inexperienced players, shocked 10-time champion University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF), 17-25, 25-15, 29-27, to open their campaign in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. yesterday at the University of San Carlos (USC) Gym.

“Nakulbaan ang akong mga players, they were all intimidated but I told them just to play their game and give their best shot,” said SWU head coach Jordan Paca.

It was the team’s skipper Marian Calinawan, a Palarong Pambansa campaigner during her elementary years, who pulled the team to win the second set.

“I just motivated them not to give in to their fears and to just play according to their skills so I was surprised with how good they performed on court,” Paca said in Cebuano.

In the other game, there were no surprises as defending champion University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R) won the opener against USC, 25-15, 19-25, 25-20, while the University of Cebu (UC) routed Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, 25-9, 25-12.

“Despite losing seven of my key players, I still believe in the players who stayed with the team can give our opponents a good fight. We still hope that we can retain the championship title,” USJR head coach Rolando Potot said.

USJ-R is led by holdovers Julyza Laraga, Joyce Cabayacruz and Kaye Ardon, while the rest of the team are new.

In the collegiate division, the USC Lady Warriors beat Cebu Doctors’ University, 25-11,25-11,26-24 while the CDU men’s team suffered the same fate against University of the Visayas (UV), 25-12, 25-11, 25-10.

UC also foiled the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) from securing its first win in the men’s division after surviving a tough five-setter, 25-20, 27-29,21-25, 25-19, 15-12.

The games will resume today with UC taking on CDU in the women’s division at 8 a.m., followed by the high school match between USPF and SHS-Ateneo.

The boys secondary division will be played at the Don Bosco Technological Center (DBTC), with the host facing USC. The men’s division will be played in the afternoon with UC taking on CDU and USJ-R facing SWU. USC will face USPF in the final match.