USPF, USJ-R raring to defend volleyball titles

CEBU, Philippines - Both armed with an intact lineup, defending champions University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) have higher and brighter chances of retaining their respective titles in the 9th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) volleyball event, which will fire off this weekend at the University of San Carlos-Main gym.

USPF women’s coach Jordan Paca said they had been training religiously since May and took part in different tournaments to further sharpen the skills of his players.

“I think we have the advantage now because all my players are competent. We are not only depending on Erika (Verano) because all of them can already manage in the attacks and defense,” said Paca.

“We should not be complacent though since I have yet to see the performances of the other teams. I just told my players to make the necessary adjustments once they are able to gauge the level of play of their opponents during the actual game,” Paca added.

Erika Camille Verano, USPF’s heart and soul, echoed Paca’s statements saying that the exposure they had by joining several events last summer will surely be an added boost to their title-retention bid.

“The tournaments that we participated last summer would really help us in our games. For sure, I will give my 100 percent in every game I play and I hope that we could retain our crown,” said Verano.

In the men’s bracket, USJ-R’s Cebu Sports Hall of Famer coach Grace Antigua will also bank on the cohesiveness of her squad as well as the addition of rookie Kevin Casia and former USPF spiker Jade Johnson.

“I can’t say as of the moment if we could win again the championship this year because we still need to play and we don’t really know what is going to happen in the course of the competition,” said Antigua. “But one thing that I am slightly confident of is that no one was taken from the line-up, they are still complete.” – Marigold P. Lebumfacil   (THE FREEMAN)