Fancied squads La Salle, College of St. Benilde, UST and Adamson go for quarterfinal berths as they try to sweep their respective group assignments in the 2023 Shakey’s Super League (SSL) National Invitationals Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
Action kicks off a 9 a.m. with reigning UAAP champion La Salle (1-0) clashing against CESAFI runner-up University of Southern Philippines Foundation (0-1) in Pool A followed by the 12 p.m. duel between Adamson (1-0) and Lyceum (0-1) in Pool C.
At 2 p.m., UST collides (1-0) with La Salle-Dasma (0-1) in Pool B while two-time NCAA queen CSB tackles Enderun Colleges at 4 p.m. in Pool D to wrap up the short single-round robin elims among 12 teams from the NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Only the top two teams from each pool will advance to the knockout playoffs of the SSL presented by Eurotel as official hotel and Victory Liner as office transport provider, and in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
“Lahat ng teams dito sa Shakey’s, naghanda talaga so kailangan i-respeto namin lahat ng kalaban,” said Lady Spikers deputy mentor Noel Orcullo as La Salle emerges as team to beat in the nationwide tilt.
Already out of it is Notre Dame of Dadiangas University from General Santos City which dropped its first two games in Group D, while the last playdate remains a waiting game for CESAFI champion University of San Jose Recoletos (1-1) in Pool B and Jose Maria College Foundation (1-1) in Pool C.
While all eyes are on the big guns from the UAAP and the NCAA, unheralded squads like the USJR from Cebu and the JMCF from Davao have proven their worth so far in the historic joust also backed by Mikasa, Team Rebel Sports, Summit Bottled Water, Genius Sports, Potato Corner, Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken and Sauce Bar, and R&B Tea.
USJR took down Luzon bet La Salle-Dasma, 25-20, 25-18, 25-18, while JMCF stunned NCAA runner-up Lyceum via reverse sweep, 24-26, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24, to stay in playoff contention.
