UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) eyes an upset of defending champion De La Salle to keep its grip of solo third place at the resumption today of Season 79 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball action at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The UST-De La Salle match is set at 4 p.m. with the Tigresses shooting for their eighth win in 13 matches, enough to keep them at third for a potential first Final Four appearance in three seasons.
The Lady Archers are 9-2 won-lost and have secured a semifinal seat with the front-running Ateneo Lady Eagles (10-2).
Far Eastern University (FEU), meanwhile, goes for an all-important victory to stay in the Final Four hunt when it takes on University of the East (UE) at 2 p.m.
The Lady Tamaraws are lurking out of the semifinals fence with a sixth-running 5-6 card behind the 7-5 records of University of the Philippines and National University *NU). UE is out of the running with a 1-10 card.
In men’s play, UST (5-6) goes for a share of third place against De La Salle (4-7) at 10 a.m. and so will UP (5-6) which takes on NU (10-1) at 8 a.m.
“We need to win all our remaining games, especially this one against De La Salle,” UST Head Coach Kungfu Reyes said. “Anything can happen if we make it to the Final Four. Who knows, we might be champions if heaven would open its door for a miracle.”
A victory by the Lady Spikers would force a tie for the lead and a stronger chance for the Taft-based volleybelles for a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals.
“Our target is to finish the elimination at No. 1 or No. 2 so we’ll have an advantage in the semis. This match against UST is very important for us,” De La Salle Head Coach Ramil De Jesus said.
De Jesus, however, said that duplicating their 25-23, 16-25, 25-14, 25-22 first-round win over UST won’t be easy this time.
“UST is improving every game and they have the better record among other contenders. So we should be ready against them,” he added.