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There
will be no Santo Tomas U (UST) sweep in men’s
volleyball.
This,
after Far Eastern U (FEU) put a stain on UST’s clean
record in a shockingly short 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 win
Sunday in Season 70 of the University Athletic
Association of the Philippines at the College of Human
Kinetics Gym inside the University of the Philippines
(UP) Diliman campus.
Edjet
Mabbayad came up with 15 points, while Francisco de la
Cruz had 14 to lead the defending champions Tamaraws in
avenging a first-round loss to UST.
With the
win, the Tamaraws forced the Tigers—who finished the
eliminations tied for first with 13-1 slates—into a
playoff for the No. 1 spot tomorrow (Wednesday), 4 p.m.
at the Blue Eagle Gym.
Meanwhile, Adamson secured the No.3 ranking in the Final
Four after beating fellow chaser UP, 25-18, 25-20,
27-29, 25-17.
The
Fighting Maroons, last year’s runners-up, dropped to
fourth with a 8-6.
In other
results, University of the East (UE) beat Ateneo, 25-21,
25-22, 22-25, 25-14, while De La Salle defeated National
U (NU), 25-12, 25-22, 25-18.
The
bottom four are as follows: UE 7-7, De La Salle 3-11,
Ateneo 2-10 and NU 1-13.
The
men’s Final Four will be played Sunday at the Rizal
Memorial Coliseum.
 In
women’s volleyball, UST and FEU arranged a playoff for a
twice-to-beat incentive after sweeping separate rivals
in the final day of the eliminations at the Rizal
Memorial Coliseum.
UST
showed why it won’t be easy taking away its championship
as the Tigresses pulverized Adamson, 25-12, 25-23,
25-20, and snapped the Lady Falcons’ 12-game winning
streak.
In other
games, FEU survived Ateneo 25-21, 30-28, 25-8; De La
Salle dumped NU 25-22, 25-10, 25-17; and UE defeated UP
16-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19.
Adamson,
UST and FEU are locked with identical 12-2 records, but
Adamson’s superior quotient gave the Lady Falcons the
No.1 ranking outright.
The UST-FEU
playoff is scheduled tomorrow (Wednesday), 4 p.m. at the
Blue Eagle Gym.
Adamson
and No.4-ranked Ateneo (8-6) meet in the other
final-four pairing. The semifinals are scheduled Sunday
at the Rizal Coliseum.
“I
credit my coaching staff for scouting the team very
well. We did not have [any] trouble with our plays
because of our good blocking and receiving,” said UST
coach August Santamaria.
The
bottom four are UP (4-10), De La Salle (3-11), NU (3-11)
and UE 2-12.
Playoffs
in men’s, women’s soccer
IN men’s
football, the last day of eliminations will determine
who gets the top seed and the precious twice-to-beat
advantage in the championship round.
FEU won
(over UST 3-1) and Ateneo was drawn (1-1 against UP) in
their respective games Sunday, results that gave the two
schools identical 19 points (6-2-1, won-lost-drawn)
going into their Thursday meeting.
The
first time the two schools met, FEU crushed Ateneo 2-0.
 Last
Sunday UP’s Franklin Valenzuela almost pulled the rug
under Ateneo with a score in the 12th, but Gregorio
Cancio tied the match in the 87th.
In other
men’s result, Kevin Deano knocked in a goal in the 76th
as De La Salle finally notched its first win, beating UE
1-0.
Other
games on Thursday feature UST against UE at 1 p.m. and
UP against De La Salle at 3 p.m.
In
women’s football, Ateneo and UST remained in contention
for the second finals seat after they beat separate
rivals Sunday.
The Lady
Eagles beat UP 4-0, while the Tigresses defeated early
finalist FEU 2-0 in the penultimate day of eliminations.
Ateneo
and UST are tied with 11 points (3-2-2 won-lost-drawn),
but Ateneo sits on third because of superior goal
difference.
De La
Salle, which is in second with 12 points (3-1-3), takes
on Ateneo Thursday, 3 p.m. at the Ateneo field. A De La
Salle victory automatically sets up a Lady Archers-FEU
Lady Tams championship round.
UST and
UP face off at
1 p.m.
FEU (16
points,
5-2-1) has already qualified for the finals, earning a
twice-to-beat advantage.
Lady
Archers’ volleyball games forfeited
THE UAAP
nullified four wins by the De La Salle women’s
volleyball team because of a “technicality” regarding
the eligibility of its player Jacqueline Alarca.
The
league learned that Alarca filed a leave of absence
(LOA) from the university beginning the third trimester
of the school year on January 7. Because she was
enrolled during the second trimester when the tournament
started, Alarca thought that she could still play for
the Lady Archers for the remainder of Season 70.
But
according to UAAP rules, a player should be a student
until the end of the tournament.
The
decision was made during an emergency board meeting last
Saturday in Ateneo.
“De La
Salle’s wins have been forfeited only after January 15,
wherein [Alarca’s] LOA was approved by her university.
The games where she played are the only ones forfeited,”
said UE board member Brenn Perez, head of the UAAP
eligibility committee.
That
means De La Salle saw its record plummet to 3-11 overall
and meant ouster from the semifinals. Ateneo, which was
nip and tuck with the Lady Archers for the last
semifinal seat, was awarded the postseason berth.
The
final standings are: Adamson 12-2, UST 12-2, FEU 12-2,
Ateneo 8-6, UP 4-10, De La Salle 3-11, NU 3-11, and UE
3-11. |
