THERE’S a new team in town and the Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU) made its presence felt with a rousing straight sets win over the University of Cebu (UC), 25-15, 21-16, in the opening day of the 2018 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) women’s beach volleyball on Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Fort San Pedro sand court.
The CDU volleybelles Aira Yzabel Velasco, Mariko Therese Suzuki and Mikhaella Rubic showed fluid chemistry in their first game to send a clear message to the other teams.
Velasco and Suzuki are in their final playing year for Cesafi and want to make the most out of this experience.
“Actually we weren’t expecting to win (our first game). But we are trying our best. We are hoping we could make it in the top three in beach volleyball because we did not make it in indoor volleyball,” the team’s beach volleyball skipper Velasco told SunStar Cebu after the game.
The chemistry of Velasco and Suzuki spelled the difference in their first win as they held off the UC side after a 12-all deadlock in the second set to complete the win.
“It’s was a last-minute formation for our team. We told our sports director that since it’s our last year, why not join the beach volleyball competition,” said Velasco.
“We just finalized things out last November and we tried to catch up with our practice,” added Suzuki.
Velasco, a former varsity player for the University of San Carlos (USC), said as a veteran player, she tells the younger players, such as rookie Rubic, “to don’t limit self, it’s just mind over matter and be confident of the skills.”
The other new team this year is the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), while the USC returns after a three-year hiatus. They join UC, University of Southern Philippines-Foundation, University of San Jose-Recoletos and defending champion Southwestern University-Phinma in the women’s field.
On the other hand, the men’s defending champion University of Visayas (UV) opened its title-defense with a convincing win over CIT-U, 21-13, 21-9.
In the other collegiate games, CIT-U men’s team beat SWU, 14-21, 21-17, 15-11, USP-F men’s team defeated USJ-R, 21-15, 21-16, while USJ-R women’s team outlasted USP-F, 21-14, 21-08.
Meanwhile, USC outlasted Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, 21-13, 21-9, and USJ-R routed CIT-U, 21-9, 21-10, in the high school boys’ division. RSC