THE University of the Cordilleras Baby Jaguars marched to the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association by beating arch rival Baguio City High School, 25-10, 25-16, 21-25, 25-23 Thursday morning at the UC gym and win the Baguio City Sports Meet.
Completely the opposite on the opener the young Jaguars was at their level best with Aice Parrocha and Krizha dela Cruz leading UC to a dominant first set where Parrocha scored 11 of her 25 points, including three blocks..
But the Jaguars fell into errors in the third set falling behind 4-2 that set the trend for the set and a reminder that BCHS dominated UC during the opener for a 25-22, 25-17 win.
And it was a close fourth set where the lead never went beyond two early on. The two teams answered with service errors but it was the Jaguars which committed the more with six including the possible match point when dela Cruz’s service swerved to the right and outside of the line.
And BCHS answered with its own service error to conclude the game.
Dela Cruz proved to be one of the stars of the UC campaign as she scored 22 points including six early in the first set and when the Jaguars started to falter late in the fourth, she came forward to take the yeoman’s task.
Aileen Alumno made up for several crucial miscues as the captain delivered 12 solid points as the third of the Aces, Ayessa Frigillana chipped in eight points despite limited exposure including relief when it was her time to serve.
Frigillana actually was at the head of the third set UC offensive contributing five big points.
The Jaguars came to the finals with so much doubt after the first game humiliation to the neighbor BCHS, a two set beating after dominating local high school competitions earlier this year including winning the regional finals of the Milo Northern and Central Luzon Finals.
But that confidence built on victory over BCHS earlier this year, the finals appearance in the Baldo Cup in Sablan and the title at Brent last October vanished amidst the Warriors, now BCHS’s name, way like water under the scorching sun.
Tuesday saw the young Jaguars at their lowest with Alumno and crew wearing a long face and their heads bowed down.
But the fall was what the team needed, said UC sports development director Danilo Cong-o said. “They need a reality check,” summed Cong-o, who said that it was a lesson in humility and that they are as vulnerable as anybody, prone to mistakes which were blatant in the first game loss.
Taken to heart the lessons Tuesday, the young Jaguars came back roaring to a 25-7, 25-8 demolition of Saint Louis University and then beat University of Baguio 25-16, 25-17 to book the last finals seat and against the Warriors.
BCHS, on the other hand, completed its domination of the eliminations by beating SLU 25-20, 25-20. (PML)