Saturday, December 23, 2006 Talisay wins governors cup By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Correspondent
IT TOOK Talisay City a whole year to prove that they are the best team in Cebu, as they collared the championship plum of the 2nd Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup for Women, unseating defending champion Lapu-Lapu City yesterday at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.
Talisay was stripped off the opportunity to compete last year when they were disqualified after fielding in an illegible player.
The team had been itching to erase the stigma of being branded as the disqualified team and to show everyone who's boss. Yesterday's win became a redemption of sorts for the team.
"I almost could not believe it. We had a lot to make up for. And winning just paid off everything we had to go through," said captain Mischelle Gimarino.
With the help of a huge crowd egging them on, Talisay brushed off a sloppy start to defeat Lapu-Lapu, the favored team, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-15.
Slow starters
After losing in the opening set, Talisay went on to shorten the best of five sets, sweeping the next three periods to take the crown. Lapu-Lapu has not lost a single game in the entire tournament until yesterday.
"We are really slow starters. It takes time before we could warm up and get our acts together," said Gimarino, a former varsity player of University of San Jose-Recoletos.
As expected, Jusabel Brillo of Lapu-Lapu steered her team, offensively and defensively, to take an early lead to win the opening set, 25-20.
"They were still feeling a bit off after losing to Lapu-Lapu in the quarterfinals. Nabag-uhan lang sila and they were not performing like their usual selves," Talisay head coach Heintjie Tomales said.
Gimarino said the crowd was a huge factor for them to reverse the momentum to their side.
"Their cheers really made us work harder. We just needed to strengthen our teamwork and our fighting spirits so that we could get back on our feet," Gimarino added.
Gimarino was named the best setter after logging in 372 excellent sets.
Gimarino's teammate, Florian Gutierrez, added another feather in her cap, as she was named the Most Valuable Player.
Consistent
Gutierrez has won the Nestea Beach Volleyball National crown many times and has been a consistent finalist since 2002.
For her brilliant performance, Brillo, last year's MVP, was awarded the Best Blocker diadem after having 13 blocks, and Best Attacker after scoring 100 points. Her teammate Janica Jimenez was named the Best Libero after registering 79 digs and 61 perfect receptions.
Gov. Gwen Garcia handed the winning team their P100,000 cash prize. Garcia said that with the staging of the tournament, she wishes that Cebu could come up with the next volleyball legends.
