2007 Uni-Games volleyball: USJ-R falters in title quest

The M. Lhuillier Sports Development Foundation (MLSDF)-sponsored University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) kissed its championship bid goodbye in volleyball event of the 2007 National University Games after losing in four sets to Adamson University Falcons in their semifinal encounter yesterday at the University of St. La Salle (USLS)-Bacolod Gym.

It was MLSDF/USJ-R's first and only loss, so far, in the week-long tourmanent that gathered all the best collegiate athletes in the land.

The wards of Cebu Sports Hall of Famer coach Grace Antigua earlier completed a four-game sweep to emerge as the elimination round topnotcher in Bracket A.

Although that gave the Josenians a huge morale-booster as they take their skills to a higher level, they simply couldn't contain and size up the bigger, taller and more cohesive Adamson Falcons.

At the start though, the USJ-R belles showed great fighting spirit as they overhauled an eight-point deficit, forged a 20-all deadlock before eventually clipping the Falcons' wings in the first set, 25-20.

Adamson, however, quickly made the necessary adjusments to shot back in the next two frames, 25-18, 25-20, to take a 2-1 lead and move one set away from booking a finals ticket.

With their backs against the wall, the USJ-R mainstays did their best in the fourth set, but their best wasn't good enough as the gritty Adamson escaped with a 25-23 victory to advance into the finals.

Despite the setback, MLSDF executive director Eddie B. Ybañez, who is sponsoring the team's trip to the City of Smiles, is still proud and happy with the performance of USJ-R in the face of a tough field of opposition.

"I really did not expect they would make it to the top four because the competition is very tough.

They performed beyond my expectations. Had they advanced to the finals, it would have been a big bonus.

Nevertheless, the USJ-R players put up an impressive showing and gave a good account that the Cebuanos are also a strong force to reckon with in volleyball," said Ybañez, who acted as the team's chief cheerleader at the sidelines. 

Antigua echoed Ybañez's sentiment saying that "my players fought so well they just fell short against Adamson. I'm very satisfied with their performance."

I commend them for giving all their best. The game is not just meant for us."

USJ-R now hopes to take home the third place trophy as it battles today the winner of the match between the Philippine Christian University (PCU) and La Salle-Dasmariñas, which were still slugging it out for the other final berth as of this writing last night.