National University will be performing eight and last this time but it is hoping to produce the best of the lot in the UAAP Cheerdance Competition today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The event will start at 2 p.m. with NU Pep Squad out to wow the crowd with its enthralling routines in jumps, dance, stunt sequence, pyramid sequence, standing tumbling and running tumbling in order to extend its reign in the most-watched one-day event of the prestigious collegiate league.
NU coach Ghicka Bernabe vowed a better performance from last season as it aims to start a new winning streak after its five-peat bid was two years ago was spoiled by Adamson.
Still, NU remains the most successful school in the event, having won the event five times in six years.
It’s already a great achievement but NU does intend to relax.
It wants more plaudits…and titles.
“Even us coaches are having a hard time kasi kung ano yung ginawa namin last year, the previous years, nahirapan na rin kaming pantayan or talunin,” she said.
“Pero kung mag-play safe kami, mawawala kung saan nakilala ang NU Pep Squad.”
Out to challenge NU’s title bid are the Far Eastern University Cheering Squad and the Adamson Pep Squad, who finished second and third last year.
University of Santo Tomas Salinggawi Dance Troup and University of the Philippines Pep Squad, the winningest teams in the competition with eight titles each, are also set to reclaim lost glory after a failed podium finish last season.
The last time UST made it on top was in 2006 while UP last won the crown in 2012.
Raising the curtain will be the De La Salle University’s Animo Squad as it aims to crawl out of the cellar, followed by the University of the East Pep Squad, UP Pep Squad and the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion.
Performing fifth will be the FEU Cheering Squad, followed by the Adamson Pep Squad, UST Salinggawi Dance Troup and NU Pep Squad.
HS VOLLEY MVP WINNERS
Meantime, NU’s Mhicaela Belen and FEU’s Rans Cajolo are set to claim the Most Valuable Player awards in the high school volleyball competitions.
Belen finished the eliminations seventh in the Best Scorers race with 122 points on 98 spikes, 16 service aces, and eight blocks. Moreover, she powered NU to a 12-0 eliminations sweep.
Belen, who will also bag the first Best Outside Hitter, ended second in spiking with a 46.89 percent success rate, first in receiving with 35.71-percent efficiency, and ninth in both digging and service.
The MVP award is the second for Belen, having won the coveted two years ago.
Cajolo, meanwhile, topped the Best Scorers race in the boys’ division after leading FEU to the top seed with an 11-2 record, with 191 points built on 150 attacks, 32 blocks, and nine service aces.
He will also pocket the Best Opposite Hitter plum after placing second in spiking with a 44.91 success percentage and second in blocking with a 0.67 average per set.
NU’s 6-foot-2 blocker Alyssa Solomon will take the Best Opposite Spiker award while teammate Camilla Lamina will nab her second-straight Best Setter award with 4.53 average per set.
Adamson’s Kate Santiago will be named second Best Outside Hitter while FEU’s Alexis Miner will claim the first Best Middle Blocker award.
Junior Tigress Bernadett Pepito will bag her fourth consecutive Best Libero plum while teammates Ela Raagas and Sophia Abbu will get the Rookie of the Year and second Best Middle Blocker awards, respectively.
