THE University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R)prevented an all-Cebu quarterfinals match-up in the women’s volleyball competition of the University Games in Dumaguete City, after eking out a five-set thriller over University of Sto. Tomas yesterday in Dumaguete.
USJ-R, which recently finished second in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. defeated University of Sto. Tomas, 26-24, 25-20, 9-25, 6-25, 15-11, to end the elimination round on top of its bracket with a 4-0 win-loss record.
Because of the win, USJ-R avoided an encounter with another Cebu team, Southwestern University, in today’s cross over quarterfinals.
SWU also topped its bracket with a clean slate after streaking to its fourth victory in the competition with an easy three-set win over Foundation University yesterday.
Its other victims include Adamson University, Iloilo Doctors’ University and La Salle Lipa.
In yesterday’s USJ-R-UST tiff, the Cebuanas started off strongly as they took a confident two-set lead. However, they dropped the next two owing to their erratic reception which forged a deciding fifth set.
“We committed several reception errors and it totally ruined our game,” said USJ-R’s star setter Michelle Simbajon.
Simbajon said that they pulled themselves together in the fifth set to win. USJ-R and UST figured in a tight contest until the Spiking Jaguars got ahead, 8-7, and they never looked back from there.
This was the only five-set match for USJ-R as it won all of its assignments in its bracket in straight sets.
USJ-R will face Adamson today, while SWU will take on UST. The USJ-R men’s team also advanced to the quarterfinals despite losing to UST in four sets yesterday.
In the basketball competition, USJ-R still had a game to play late yesterday afternoon but was already assured of a quarterfinals slot after sweeping its earlier games.
The Jaguars defeated Holy Cross Davao, 82-69, Sunday afternoon and trounced Mindanao State University in a 10-point win yesterday morning. The top two teams in the four brackets will move to the Round of 8. (MCB)
