THE Final Four cast in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament could be completed before the Lenten break as University of Santo Tomas, Far Eastern University, and De La Salle are eyeing to get the job done this weekend and direct their focus on the tougher battles ahead.
The Tigresses will take on last-place University of the East at 1 p.m. today (Saturday), while the Lady Tamaraws tangle with dangerous Adamson University at 3 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Lady Spikers, meanwhile, face University of the Philippines at 3 p.m. on Palm Sunday, also at the Big Dome.
After Sunday’s matchday, the league will have its annual Holy Week hiatus and will resume action on April 23.
Defending champion National University has already secured a place in the Final Four with a 10-2 record. It needs to win one of its remaining two elimination round matches to bag the twice-to-beat incentive.
De La Salle is second with an 8-3 record, half a game ahead of Far Eastern University, which has an 8-4 record.
UST, meanwhile, sits in fourth place with a 7-4 slate. The Tigresses are two clear of the Fighting Maroons (5-6) in the race for the last Final Four slot.
The Tigresses have already recovered from the mid-elimination slump by winning their last two matches to remain in the top four range.
“Kailangan namin i-overachieve kung ano yung mga nagagawa namin ngayon. Again, yung learning, learning namin dun sa three-game losing skid namin, yun talaga yun ang binabaon namin. At least yung maturity and decision-making ng mga bata na mas tumibay pa in different situations,” UST coach Kungfu Reyes said.
(“We need to overachieve beyond what we’re doing right now. Again, it’s the lessons we’ve learned from that three-game losing skid—that’s what we’re carrying with us. At the very least, the maturity and decision-making of the players have grown stronger through different situations.”)
The Tigresses seek to sustain the momentum of their back-to-back victories with the Lady Warriors, who need to win one of their remaining two elims assignments to avoid their first winless season in 10 years, still groping to achieve a breakthrough.
