USPF, USJ-R triumph in V-League Visayas opener

The V-League Visayas Women’s Volleyball Preliminaries served up a thrilling opening day as the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Lady Panthers and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Lady Jaguars clinched convincing victories over their respective rivals at the USJ-R Coliseum, July 6.

USPF made a strong statement in their season opener, dispatching the Cebu Institute of Technology–University (CIT-U) Lady Wildcats in four sets, 25–21, 21–25, 25–14, 25–22.

After splitting the first two sets, the Lady Panthers stormed through the third with an aggressive offensive rhythm, outpacing the Wildcats with a 25–14 rout. In the fourth, they withstood a gritty CIT-U comeback, anchored by Justine Cogtas and Jhanen Carandang, but clutch swings from Checelle Buñao, who finished with 18 points, sealed the win.

Juciel Nadera and Cherish Dayame backed up Buñao with 13 and 14 points respectively, as USPF capitalized on their frontline dominance and tighter floor defense down the stretch.

In the second match, the USJ-R Lady Jaguars used their homecourt advantage to full effect, breezing past the University of the Philippines Cebu (UPC) Fighting Maroons in straight sets, 25–21, 25–11, 25–20.

While the Fighting Maroons showed flashes of brilliance with tenacious floor defense and persistent rallies in the opening and final frames, they couldn’t find answers for the Lady Jaguars’ sharp service game and high-percentage attacks. 

The second set especially highlighted USJ-R’s depth, as they surged ahead with a double-digit margin behind a dominant service run.

Rachel Tecson led all scorers with 17 points, while Julienne Gadingan added 8 to steer the Lady Jaguars to their first win of the tournament.

With both USPF and USJ-R notching strong opening-day wins, momentum is on their side as the preliminary round heats up. All games are scheduled on the weekends of July, with more high-stakes matchups expected in the coming rounds.