by Kristel Satumbaga
Games Today (The Arena, San Juan City)
8 a.m. – Ateneo vs UST (men’s)
10 a.m. – UP vs FEU (men’s)
2 p.m. – Ateneo vs UST (women’s)
4 p.m. – UP vs FEU (women’s)
Runners-up to the La Salle Lady Spikers last season, the Lady Tamaraws and the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons clash at 4 p.m. with both teams determined to score a follow-up to their impressive wins last Saturday.
Equally exciting is the 2 p.m. showdown between the University of Santo Tomas and Ateneo – two teams aching to end their long title droughts.
The Tigresses’ 25-21, 25-21, 24-26, 24-26, 15-6 victory over the Adamson Lady Falcons on Sunday is an early wakeup call for the España-based squad and coach Kungfu Reyes hopes his players don’t make the same mistake against a team aiming to bounce back from a stinging defeat.
Ateneo is still nursing a 25-14, 25-17, 16-25, 25-19 loss to La Salle over the weekend in an early clash of the two rival teams.
Reyes pins his hopes on Sisi Rondina to deliver better than the last time after the veteran spiker fell into a maze of errors in the crunch, while rookie Eya Laure is also set to become the team’s sparkplug after debuting with 17 points against Adamson.
For Ateneo’s new mentor Oliver Almadro, the best is yet to come for his stalwarts as they parade their taller lineup that include graduating Bea De Leon, Maddie Madayag and Kat Tolentino.
Like UST, UP also needed a deciding set in beating vastly-improved University of the East, 25-12, 22-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12, on Saturday and coach Godfrey Okumu searches for more firepower from his players headed by Tots Carlos, Isa Molde and Ayel Estranero.
FEU, for its part, is leaning on its 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-12 win over NU with skipper Lycha Ebon, Heather Guino-o and Celine Domingo in front of its charge.
The trio combined for 35 points the last time.
