INQUIRER Sports

The year 2009 can be considered a huge success for the sport of volleyball in Cebu with major wins both in local and national fronts. However, just as catching were its bitter controversies that robbed three respected coaches of their careers in the collegiate ranks.

The summer season was a sizzling one for the beach volley warriors of Cebu after the University of San Jose-Recoletos Spiking Jaguars and the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation Lady Spiking Panthers brought home the national titles in their respective classes in the 2009 Nestea Beach Volley National Finals in Boracay.

USJ-R made its way back to the top of the heap behind the sterling efforts of Ariel Carumba and Louijie Tipgos who toppled defending champions Foundation University, for their school’s third national title in the men’s division.

USPF on the other hand, leaned on the courageous performance of Erika Verano, who was suffering from an ankle sprain in the final, and Apple Saraum, to turn back the Adamson University.

LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS/CONTROVERSIES

On the local front, the 6th Governor Gwendolyn Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup went as smoothly as ever even with the integration of the men’s division.

The finals, which happened just before the Christmas festivities, saw powerhouses Mandaue City and Talisay City come away with the men’s and women’s titles in the city cluster respectively. Liloan and Catmon on the other hand, emerged champions in the provincial cluster.

The collegiate tournament in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) saw a new power rise from the horizon as the volleybelles of the Southwestern University took away the title from defending titlists USPF in a five-set thriller.

It was SWU’s first major title since joining the Cesafi three years ago.

The junior competition saw USPF claim their ninth straight girls title, a feat only matched in Cebu by the University of the Visayas in the Cesafi basketball tournament. USPF’s chief rivals, the Pajo National High School Vipers, also made it to the finals of the national tournament in the Shakey’s Girls V-League but fell to the powerhouse Hope Christian School.

COACHES SUSPENDED

The men’s collegiate title though, was decided in the boardroom and not on the playing court as the USJ-R squad of head coach Grace Antigua was declared champions after the three other squads in the semifinals decided to “walk out” of the competition to protest the commissioner’s ruling allowing University of San Jose-Recoletos' Jade Dionson to play without going through the two-semester residency period. The latter is a former player of USPF but stopped for two years before enrolling at USJ-R this year.

Subsequently, the three coaches of the protesting schools, namely the University of the Visayas' Raffy Briones, University of Southern Philippines Foundation's Cecil Jotojot and University of San Carlos' Roderick Arenasa, were slapped with lifetime bans by the Cesafi Board of Trustees, citing Article F, Section 4 of the Amended Rules and Regulations for the Cesafi 2009 tournaments, which states “that a team that walks out, refuses to play or finish the game even after being ordered by the tournament officials constitutes an unsportsmanslike conduct by a player, coach or other team officials that is punishable by ban for life in all Cesafi competitions.”

The past year also saw the passing of one of Cebu’s volleyball pillars. Eugene dela Cerna succumbed to complications due to diabetes. He was 65. Dela Cerna served as head coach of the University of San Carlos for almost four decades. He started in 1970 and retired in 2006 after the Spiking Warriors finally broke their 10-year title drought.