MANILA, Philippines - San Beda cage coach Frankie Lim and San Sebastian volleyball mentor Roger Gorayeb clashed in a fistfight during a NCAA women’s volleyball game at San Beda’s St. Placid gym yesterday in an incident allegedly sparked by a remark made by an SSC volleyball player on an SBC cager.
Lim and Gorayeb were reportedly in heated verbal exchange when the former and some members of the SBC team charged onto the court in the third set of the Perpetual-San Sebastian duel and attacked the SSC coach.
Gorayeb, a multi-titled coach in volleyball like Lim in basketball, wound up with a lump in his left eye and cheek while SSC libero Mae Crisostomo, one of the Lady Stags who came in defense of her coach, was hit by a wayward hand and ended up with a swollen left eye.
After the school’s security personnel broke up the fight, Lim and the Lions were escorted outside and Gorayeb and the Lady Stags, still in shock, remained inside the gym.
Half an hour after the fracas, Gorayeb and all the players from SSC high school, women’s and men’s teams were personally escorted by San Beda’s Jose Mari Lacson to the team bus.
“He (Lim) cursed me and I cursed him back and then it happened,” said Gorayeb, who went to the Jose Rizal Memorial Hospital for a medical certificate and later filed a complaint.
“And I got hit by a punch, a kick and then my players started to hug me,” said Gorayeb.
But Lim denied they were the ones who started the fight.
“We didn’t start it. The San Sebastian volleyball coach cursed me and threw the first punch,” Lim said.
Crisostomo, meanwhile, described the one who hit her as “one with curly hair, tall and dark-complexioned.”
In the photos that went viral on popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, it was Dave Marcelo, former Rookie of the Year and this year’s Finals MVP who apparently hit the diminutive Crisostomo.
The Lady Altas, who were leading, 25-10, 25-18, 11-6, before the fight broke out, were declared winners of the match while the men’s game pitting San Sebastian and defending champion Perpetual was called off.
San Sebastian board representative Frank Gusi said he will talk to the school’s officials to discuss their next move.
“We will have to do our own investigation, we will consult our school officials, our lawyers on what we need to do next with regards to this sad incident,” said Gusi. “It’s up to Roger (Gorayeb) to file a complaint, it’s really up to him.
Lacson, San Beda’s board representative in charge of the volleyball event said they will also investigate the incident and get the side of all parties involved.
“We’ll investigate what happened right now, we cannot really give you details when argument like this starts. When everybody says they’re right, it’s very difficult to decide so Mr. Gusi and I will discuss this and see what really happened,” said Lacson.
“There are accusations on both sides, it happens all the time and tempers just really flared up and some of the players from the volleyball team were apologizing because it all started with that stupid comment,” he added.
Lacson was referring to an SSC remark that Ola Adeogun, a Nigerian playing next season for San Beda, overheard from the a player from the SSC men’s volleyball squad during the team’s warm-up outside the venue.
Adeogun, who just came from the Lions’ practice at the adjacent court near the volleyball venue, allegedly heard the word Filipino word “unggoy” or monkey.
But SSC men’s team captain Rainer Mangunay denied this, saying they’re just humming the “Ho-hey chant” they used to do to prep themselves up before a game.
“We were just humming it and it just so happened he (Adeogun) was there,” said Mangunay in Filipino. “The O-oy, ale, ale, hoy hum is really part of our pre-game routine, a lot of volleyball teams do that also aside from us.”
Perpetual’s Dr. Ramon Cercado, the league’s Management Committee chair, said they would meet early next week to discuss the incident.
“To tell you the truth, my presence here was somewhat incidental because I’m cheering for my team,” said Cercado. “Whatever recommendation they give to me that’s the time I will act on it but as of the moment something has to be done whatever it is.”
Earlier, Perpetual high school team joined Emilio Aguinaldo College in the lead with a 20-25, 25-18, 25-17, 24-26, 15-8 win over San Sebastian for their second triumph in a row.
San Sebastian’s women’s team fell to its second loss against a win while its juniors squad took its first loss after back-to-back wins.
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