Inaugural CESAFI Partners' Cup women's volleyball to open Feb. 22

CEBU – The inaugural edition of the CESAFI Partners’ Cup volleyball tournament will fire off on February 21 at the University of San Carlos-Main gym.

After months of extensive preparation, the organizers have finally pressed the green button for the start of the tournament for women.

“We decided to have the volleyball tournament in the Partners’ Cup because this would be an additional training for our players,” said CESAFI commissioner Felix “Boy” O. Tiukinhoy, Jr.

“Aside from volleyball, we also implemented the football tournament. We could see that these are crowd-drawer sports and should be given due importance,” added Tiukinhoy.

Tiukinhoy explained that they only have the ladies event for the time being because of their limited budget, but he expressed optimism on the inclusion of the men’s action next year.

“Hopefully by next year, we could have the men’s division already in the Partners Cup volleyball and we could include more sports,” assured Tiukinhoy.

The CESAFI member schools comprise the teams that will be playing in this all-female tilt.

The contending squads with their respective corporates backers are CDO Idol Cheese Hotdog/USPF, Ave Maria Sanctuary Park/USJ-R, Hotel Fortuna/SWU, Enervon C/UC, Aerosol Lion Tiger/USC, and Prime Asia Pawn and Jewelry Shop/UV. Also joining the competition is Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU).

The Partner’s Cup women’s volleyball will begin right after the culmination of the CESAFI Beach Volley at Wiggy’s Beach Resort in Liloan.

The semifinals as well as the championship match are slated on March 8. – Marigold P. Lebumfacil (THE FREEMAN)