AN ANSWERED prayer was how head coach Grace Antigua described the win of the University of San Jose Recoletos men’s team in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. volleyball competition, where they upset defending champions University of San Carlos, 23-25, 25-14, 25-17 and 25-17, Wednesday night at the USC gym.
For the past year, USJ-R had geared up for this encounter and their preparation, apart from the stringent practices, has been coupled with lots and lots of prayers.
“Grabe ang determination aning mga bata-ana. They pray and hear mass on a regular basis,” said head coach Grace Antigua.
It was indeed an answered prayer as the Jaguars were up against tall odds going into the final round following the loss of their women’s team in an epic five-setter.
“I was totally drained. I’m getting too old for this down the line matches. Naluya ko. Nahurot gyud akong kusog sa duwa sa women’s team,” said Antigua.
Upon seeing their coach still in a slump, team captain Jackie Yrog-Irog, deemed it necessary to do something to keep his team together.
“Bawiun nato ang pildi sa atong girls team,” he told the team before the game.
However, the girls team’s loss was a huge demoralizing factor that they still lost in the first set. “It affected them still. But it was a good thing nga ilang gibawi,” Antigua said.
USC put up a good show leading the first set, 21-19, until USJ-R rallied with four straight points courtesy of Ken Abunda and Ariel Carumba for a 23-21.
But a smashing performance from two-time MVP Roderick Arenasa saved USC and they took their only set in the match.
Yrog-irog then stepped up as he led USJ-R to a strong start in the second set to level the field with one set each and later got ahead after nailing the next set behind the powerful attacks of Ariel Carumba, Louijie Tipgos and Jessriel Pino.
Comeback
USC tried to get make a comeback in the fourth set and challenged USJ-R to several deadlocks until 9-all but Carumba ended USC’s hope for a grandslam when he scored six straight points to put USJ-R ahead 15-9, which ultimately set the stage for USJ-R’s return to the top of the podium.
In the battle for third in the men’s division, last year’s runnerup, University of Southern Philippines Foundation could only salvage fourth place after losing to the University of the Visayas, 23-25, 21-25, 25-15 and 17-25, while the Southwestern University retained its third place in the women’s division after defeating USC, 20-25, 25-14, 25-23 and 25-13. (MCB)
