CEBU, Philippines - Reigning women's champion Southwestern University (SWU) served strong notice of its serious title retention bid as it thrashed last year's rival University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) in straight sets in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) volleyball tournament the other day at the jampacked Aznar Coliseum.
Behind the vaunted triumvirate of Danika Gendrauli, Lorie Mae Layno and rookie Fritzie Aliway along with reliable reinforcement Princess Ann Pido, SWU of coach Jordan Paca slammed USPF in the first two sets, 25-14, 25-16 before eking out a 25-23 decision to finally finish off their shell-shocked foes.
In another women's match yesterday at the University of San Carlos gym, SWU sustained its sizzling run with another impressive three-set victory over the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), 25-12, 25-23, 25-18.
The win pushed SWU on top of the leaderboard with a clean 4-0 slate.
Host USC, on the other hand, prolonged the agony of USJ-R but not without going through a five-set thriller before squeezing out a hard-earned 25-20, 25-27, 15-25, 25-18, 15-10 triumph.
Among those who powered USC to victory were Jerymie Montalvo, Suzette Panis, Niña Irish Cortes, Akemi Aono, Mangie Villaflores and Chona Gesulga.
USC continued its winning streak after fending off Cebu Doctors' University in four sets, 25-15, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21.
In the other women's games, CDU tamed the University of the Visayas (UV), 28-26, 25-19, 25-20. UV quickly bounced back though and vented its ire on the University of Cebu (UC), 25-23, 28-26, 25-19. (FREEMAN)