THE University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) took Game 1 of the best-of-three Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) boys’ division volleyball finals after beating defending champion University of San Carlos (USC) in a five-set thriller last Oct. 28 at the USC Main Gym.

USC came out in top shape and took the first set 25-23. USPF, however, retaliated by taking the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-16.

USC evened it up by winning the fourth set, 25-19, and forced a fifth and deciding set.

The fifth set was neck-to-neck with neither team refusing to give in but Christian Pitogo sparked a 5-0 run by USPF for an 11-7 lead.

USC trimmed the lead to just a single point, 10-11, following June Yungco’s back-to-back spikes and USPF’s Christopher Claro sending his attack out of bounds but USC’s streak ended with an error on the part of Ruel Sarnejo Jr. after being called for a double hit.

Pitogo made a crucial service error and Ken Chan aced his serve to tie the game at 12.

Yungco gave USC the lead with a drop but Chan made it 13-13 after his serve went out of bounds. Jumandos scored with a powerful spike and USC was called for a touching violation to give USPF the final set and the game.

Game 2 will be on Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) bagged third place honors in the boys’ division after beating Southwestern University (SWU)-Phinma in three sets, 25-20, 25-27, 25-21.

USC, on the other hand, won third place in girls’ division with a three-set win over Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC), 25-19, 16-25, 25-22. (EKA)