ROOKIE-LADEN USP-F FACES USJ-R IN FINALS
USP-F to face top seed USJ-R in Cesafi beach volleyball finals
For the past years, the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) women’s team could only muster a third place finish in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) beach volleyball tournament.
That’s going to change today after the rookies made a huge impact this season to power USP-F to is first finals appearance in the beach volleyball competition in recent memory.
The tandem of rookies Crisley Ann Sucalit and Jiselle Marie Gunda held their ground against the youthful University of San Carlos (USC) to escape with a thrilling win, 21-23, 21-11, 15-10, in the knockout semis round at the Fort San Pedro sand court on Friday, Dec. 21. Completing the trioka of USP-F is second year player Iris Tito.
“That is our goal, to make it to the championship round. We practiced hard to get this far,” said Sucalit, who played steady to help USP-F recover from 0-1 down to winning the game.
After losing the closely contested first set which saw USC scoring the last three points for a 23-21 score, USP-F quickly bounced back by owning the second set with a double-digit gap. USP-F kept their opponents at bay in the deciding third set to take the win.
“Our key is simple, just trust your teammate,” added Sucalit.
USP-F’s head coach Yolanda Rizarri said that the women’s beach volleyball team was always a third place finisher and never made it to the championship round since she took over as a coach in 2015.
The top-seeded University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R), on the other hand, made quick work over the rookie team and fourth-seeded Cebu Doctors’ University in straight sets, 21-10, 21-14, in the other semis match.
At one point, CDU had a 10-8 lead in the second set but USJ-R was quick to gather with a dazzling 10-0 blitz for a total break away and close the game after two sets.
In the girls’ division, it will be a clash between two champions as the rivalry of USJ-R and USP-F continues in the sand court a month after the two teams faced in the Cesafi indoor volleyball championship match. USP-F won the title in Game 3. /