Sunday, March 09, 2008 USPF prevents USJ-R's sweep of beach volley
THE University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) hampered University of San Jose-Recoletos’ (USJ-R) chance for a twin kill in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc (Cesafi) beach volleyball competition, which ended yesterday at the Inayagan beach in Naga, Cebu.
USPF, made up of Nestea national semifinalists James Rivera and new partner Edward Ybañez, defeated USJ-R, 25-21, in the last and final match of the tournament.
The loss puts USJ-R, USPF and University of San Carlos figured in a three-way tie after ending the competition with identical 3-1 win-loss records. USPF got out of it successfully owing to a more superior quotient.
“It was very disappointing because we were hoping to get a double championship,” said USJR head coach Grace Antigua.
Antigua said the match up was on equal footing as both teams have one senior player and a new partner.
“We just lacked the drive to win and we need a lot more exposure,” said Antigua of her wards Ariel Carumba and Louijie Tipgos.
Rivera will also try his luck one more time in Nestea and will try to improve his semifinal finish last year. He will be paired with Jonrey Sasing, which just might boost USPF’s chances in the Nestea event.
Sasing had already won a national beach volleyball title when he played under Antigua’s wing and is making a comeback this year with USPF.
However, not everything went to naught for the volleyball powerhouse USJ-R as the women’s duo of Michelle Simbajon and Genie Sabas went on to take the women’s division title.
Simbajon and Sabas formalized the victory with a win over University of Cebu yesterday.
Meanwhile, also cementing their niche in the beach volleyball scene are newbies Southwestern University which ended its bid at a decent second place. (MCB)
